A Different Kind Of Love
by Jayne Leigh
Summary: Studio 60 Fic She had moved on and she told him to do the same. Matt has meet someone else and Harriet now understands how he felt about Darren Wells and Luke Scott... has she missed her chance with him? Epilogue complete
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, look at this! Another story for you guys just because I love Studio 60 and miss it!! So please review and let me know what you think! Oh, remember I am a Marriet fan so don't go crazy at me just yet!! This fic is for Allie, who's been waiting for it!! **

**A Different Kind Of Love**

_What's so great about baseball? It was a dumb sport played by dumb players. Okay maybe they're all not dumb...maybe only Darren Wells...that's a dumb name as well..._

Matt Albie downed half the bottle of beer that the barman had placed in front of him. It had been a terrible week. First he had a stupid fight with Harriet about dumb Darren Well_s _(That's his official name now, Matt decided,) then he had broken his window with the dumb bat that dumb Darren Wells had given to Harriet. The worst was Danny told him to put some of Ricky's and Ron's idea into the show and it turned out the only good piece they had, had been stolen from, well from Studio 60 but he didn't know that at the time. They had gone to the wrap party and then Simon suggested they go to this club he knew. So Matt, Simon, Tom, Dillon and Danny left the party earlier. Now here, Matt was at 1:30 sat alone at the bar, downing beers. Danny got bored within the first 30 minutes of being there and went home. It wasn't long after that before Dillon had one too many and Tom had to take him home. Matt wasn't sure where Simon had gone but he guessed he wouldn't be back any time soon because the last time he saw him, he was heading off with some girl. So, he was alone, getting drunk trying to work out a way to blame everything all on dumb Darren Wells.

"Hi."

"Uh, hi." He said, turning to see a pretty brunette sit down on the stall next to him. "I'm Matt."

She smiled. "I know. I'm a big fan. I'm Jessica...Jess."

"Well, Jess...can I buy you a drink?" He asked.

"Sure a beer would be great." She smiled again and for some reason unknown to Matt, it made him smile too.

He called the barman over and ordered two more beers before turning his attention back to Jessica.

"So, your boyfriend's not going to come over and start beating me up or anything, is he?" He asked.

"I haven't got a boyfriend." She laughed slightly.

"Good, I had to ask because of the bad luck I've been having lately."

"Well, maybe your luck is about to change."

He smiled again. "I hope so."

She had asked about the show and Matt told her about it and about the cast. Then she told him how she was training to be a teacher.

"Thanks for the beer." She picked up the bottle, taking a mouthful.

"No problem..." When he went to reach for his, he slipped and nearly fell of his stall.

"Wow, you okay?" She laughed, reaching to help him sit back up. "I think you might have had enough to drink."

"No, if I had, had enough I wouldn't have been able to notice how beautiful you are."

"Are you flirting with me?" She asked.

"I don't know... if its working then I am... if its not... then no, I'm not flirting."

"You're too cute." She laughed.

"Thank you." He grinned, reaching for his beer again.

"No, I think maybe we should go and get a coffee, to sober you up." She told him, stopping him. "I know this great place with the best coffee."

"Yeah? Where?" He asked, standing up when she did.

"My place." She turned and grinned at him.

"Well, okay if you're..." He started before frowning at her. "Are you hitting on me?"

"If its working then I am... if its not... then no, I'm not." She repeated what he said earlier, teasingly.

"Okay, I can deal with that." He nodded. "Lead the way."

"Okay." She smiled, taking his hand, leading him out of the club.

XxXxX

A couple of months had past and Matt thought it was about time Jessica met Danny and he loved her. Which surprised Matt. Whenever he introduced a girl to his friend, he would always point out some kind of flaw or tell him she wasn't good enough. Danny, who was currently dating Jordan, had told Matt, he thought she was perfect for him and Matt questioned his state of mind. Although he agreed with Danny, he was use to defending his choice on girls to his best friend. Although when their relationship first started, Matt had told Jess that he wasn't looking for anything serious and he had told her all about his relationship with Harriet. He was surprised she hadn't ended it there and then but she admitted she was just out of a serious relationship and felt the same.

Now it had been 3 months since they had met and they were still together. So much had happened in those 3 months. Christmas had come and gone, Danny and Jordan were still going strong and Harriet had broken up with dumb Darren Wells and was currently seeing Luke Scott. He really cared about her, he didn't know whether it was love or not yet but he was happy to stay with her and find out.

Once she had met Danny and they actually got along, he decided to make their relationship official. He was going to take her to the wrap party for the first time so that meant she was bound to run into Harriet. He didn't want things to be awkward so he decided to tell Harriet about her first before she found out by someone else.

"Hey, can I talk to you for sec?" He asked, knocking on her dressing room door an hour before the show.

"Yeah, sure." She replied.

"I heard you're bringing Luke to the party tonight."

She sighed and turned away from him. "Matthew, please don't start..."

"No... No I wasn't going to." He assured her. "I think it's good."

"Yeah right." She looked at him.

"I'm serious…" He insisted.

"Okay, what's going on?" She asked.

"Well, I'm kind of bringing someone myself." He told her. "Her name is Jessica... I've been seeing her for a few months."

"Oh." She said surprised.

"Yeah, I just didn't want you to think I was bringing her to get back at you for being with Luke." He told her.

"Right." She nodded, slightly. "A few months, huh? You guys must be getting serious."

"Uh, I don't know... she's great and I care about her...I'll guess we'll have to see where it goes."

"Well, I'm happy for you." She told him.

"Thank you." He smiled. "I'm just happy that we can still be friends...and we both are moving on."

"Me too." She nodded, smiling.

"Good, well I better get back upstairs... Danny's probably going crazy, looking for me."

"Okay."

"Oh, Harriet." He said, stopping at the door.

"Yeah?"

"Have a good show."

"Have a good show." She repeated with a smile.

"See you." He smiled at her one more before disappearing out the door.

"Bye." She whispered trying to fight the feeling of jealousy that she felt rising from the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help but hate the fact that he was moving on even though it was her who told him too.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!!! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, thanks for all the reviews!! Please keep them coming!! **

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

"Hey, Danny, wait up..." Simon called out when Tom and he saw him walking just ahead of them.

"What's up?" He asked, once they reached him.

"Tell us about Matt's new girlfriend."

Danny glanced at them. "Matt doesn't have a girlfriend."

"It's okay, Danny...Matt told Harriet all about it and she told us." Tom said.

"What's to tell?" He asked, starting to walk again. "They met in a bar a few months back and that's about it."

"Oh come on, there must be more to it then that." Simon stated as they followed him. "Have you met her?"

"Yes."

"Well, what is she like?" Tom asked.

"She's nice." He shrugged, jogging up the few stairs that led to the bar where the wrap party was being held.

"Just nice?" Simon questioned.

"Okay, she's great!" Danny rolled his eyes. "Don't you guys have anything better to do?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know you're the stars of a great TV Show...there must be something instead of trying to find gossip like a bunch of women."

Simon and Tom stopped walking and looked at each other for a moment before following Danny again.

"Is it true she's just 25?" Simon asked, causing Danny to cry out in frustration.

_**XxXxX**_

"Oh, Matt's just walked in." Jeannie whispered to Harriet, who had her back to the door.

"Is he alone?" She asked, not wanting to turn and see for herself.

"Nope, there's some brunette hanging off his arm." She told her. "I'm guessing that must be Jessica."

"Is she pretty?"

"What do you care?" Jeannie looked at her.

"I don't..." Harriet stuttered slightly. "I'm just wondering."

"Yeah right... you still have a thing for him...everyone can tell." Jeannie teased.

"Firstly, I don't have a thing for him...secondly; I'm with Luke Scott, who is going to show up any minute...and thirdly, who can tell?"

"Everyone."

"Well, go and tell everyone that they're wrong." She replied. "Matt and I are history...we're just friends now."

"Okay, if you say so." Jeannie replied, sipping her drink.

"I do."

"So, let go and talk to them."

"What?"

"Come on, it's what friends do." She grabbed her hand and pulled her towards where Matt and Jessica were sat. They arrived at the table the same time as Danny, who was still being followed by Simon and Tom. They had now moved on from asking questions about Matt and Jess to questions about Jordan and the baby.

"Leave me alone!" He raised his voice, startling Matt and Jessica, who were both surprised to see everyone appear in front of them. Danny looked at the couple and smiled. "Hey."

"Hi." Matt replied. "Uh, Jess you remember Danny."

"Of course." She smiled. "Nice to see you again."

"You too." He said, glancing over his shoulder when Simon cleared his throat. "Oh, these two, who have decided to become my shadow for the night, are Simon Stilles and Tom Jeter."

Jessica laughed lightly. "Yeah, I recognise you both from the show. You were great tonight."

"Well, it's always nice to meet a fan." Simon smiled proudly.

"I'm Jeannie and this is Harriet." Jeannie stepped forwards to gain everyone attention.

"Um, hi..." Jess said, her smile fluttering for a second when she made eye contact with Harriet. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Jess spoke again. "You two were amazing tonight too."

"Thank you, that's sweet." Harriet smiled. "I got to go and find Luke."

Matt frowned slight, confused as they all watched her walk away. "What's up with her?"

"Time of the month." Jeannie answered quickly.

Matt made a face before standing up and holding his hand out to Jess. "Uh, I think this might be a good time to go get a drink."

They all watch silently as the couple walked away.

"They're cute together." Tom commented.

"Yeah." Simon agreed with a nod causing Danny and Jeannie to look at them.

"I'm going over there now..." Danny said slowly, pointing to the other side of the room, still looking at them. "Go find some men to talk to."

Simon held his arms out questionable to his comment, as he walked away.

"Oh, let's go talk to Cal." Tom pointed across the room.

"Yeah, okay... did you know his assistant is sleeping with some guy from security?"

"I heard about that!"

Jeannie shook her head and rolled her eyes when they had left.

Later that night, Harriet was sat with Luke as he told her about his day on the set but she hadn't heard a word, of what he said. She was to busy watching Matt with Jessica. They were stood close so they could whisper to each other. Once again, she felt jealousy flow through her body as Matt reached out and stroked Jessica's cheek softly and saying something to her that made her smile.

"Harriet...Harri, are you listening to me?" Luke touched her arm gently.

"What? Yes sorry." She turned to look at him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She forced a smile. "I guess I'm a little tired."

"I can take you home if you like?" He offered.

"No, I'll be okay..." She shook her head slightly. "Let's just go and get a drink."

Jordan walked into the wrap and looked around the room. She saw Harriet and Luke at the bar and was about to walk over to them when she spotted Danny talking to Matt and Jessica. She decided to try and get to know Jess a little better. She knew how much Matt means to Danny and it would be so easier if the four of them got on. She didn't think it would a problem, they had all been out for dinner a few times and Jess was a sweet girl, although she couldn't help but think it would have been better if it were Matt and Harriet instead.

"Hey, guys...sorry I'm late, I got held up." She said once she reached them.

"Hey, how are you?" Danny asked, reaching out to touch her stomach.

"We're both fine." She smiled at him slightly. "So, Jess how did you enjoy the show?"

"It was great! It's a bit strange not to be watching on a TV though."

"Well, that's a perk of dating an Executive Producer."

"Yeah, the only reason I am." She replied, teasingly.

"Hey!" Matt looked at her.

"I know what you mean." Jordan added, causing Danny to look at her quickly.

"What?"

The girls laughed at the look on their faces.

"Well, I'm going to the bathroom." Jess told them, kissing Matt's cheek.

"Oh, I'll come with you." Jordan said.

"Why do woman always go to the bathroom in pairs?" Matt asked but aimed the question at Danny.

"So, we can talk about our men." Jordan answered him then turned to Danny. "Can you get me a drink?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you." She smiled. "Oh and something to eat to!"

"No problem."

"See if they got some sandwiches..." She told him.

"I'll try my best..."

"And chocolate cake." She added before he could finish that sentence.

"So, are you having any pregnancy symptoms?" Matt asked her, sarcastically.

"No, not really." She answered, with the same amount of dryness.

"Can I get you anything, babe?" He asked, Jess.

"An orange juice would be great." She replied.

"You sure, you don't want anything else?" He asked. "We got champagne."

"OJ is fine." She told him.

"Okay." He shrugged.

"So, things seem to be going good with you two." Danny said as Matt and he headed for the bar.

"Yeah, they are..." He nodded.

"You sound surprised."

"Well, if I'm honest, I never really thought we'd get this far." He admitted. "It started out just a bit of fun for the both of us... now its 3 months and things are going great."

"She's a great girl."

"I know that..." He replied.

"But?" Danny prompted.

"What?"

"There's a but, isn't there?" He asked.

"It's just... she's so different to Harriet." Matt looked at him. "Do you know how long I thought Harriet was the woman for me... that she was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with."

"Do you still feel like that?"

"I don't know... I haven't really thought about it lately." He shrugged, leaning on the bar as they waited to get served. "I never expected this to happen."

"Well, they say love sneaks up on you."

"Who says that?" Matt asked.

"I don't know...People."

"What people?"

"Does it matter?"

"You brought it up." Matt muttered. "Besides, I didn't say it was love."

"No?" Danny gave him a look.

"It isn't..." He insisted, before thinking for a moment. "Is it?"

Danny smiled and patted him on the back. "She's a great girl, Matt...don't be scared."

Matt looked at him for a seconds before nodding slowly. "Okay."

"Okay." Danny agreed, just as a barman approached them.

Matt turned away from the bar, leaning his back against it as Danny ordered their drinks. He looked around the party, he made eye contact with Harriet for a second before seeing Jess and Jordan walking back into the room, laughing.

Harriet looked over her shoulder when Matt looked away from her and smile widely at someone. She sighed when she saw it was Jess.

_**XxXxX**_

"Have you told him yet?" Jeannie asked Harriet.

"Told who what?"

"Have you told Matt you've broken up with Luke for him?"

"I didn't break up with Luke for Matthew." She stated.

"You said that Luke was being a jerk and you couldn't stand the things he was saying about Matt."

"We're friends how, I would have done the same if he was talking about Tom or Simon or Danny." She told her. "Besides, he's with Jessica."

"You really think she's going to last?" She asked.

"It's nearly been 4 months." Harriet told her.

"Oh come on... she's 25 year old school teachers, what can they possible have in common?"

"I don't know." She sighed. She didn't get it; Jess was not Matt's type.

"Just tell him how you feel and I bet you, he'll drop her just like that." She clicked her fingers to illustrate her point.

Harriet sat thinking about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"I have nothing to tell him."

_**XxXxX**_

Danny was in the middle of meeting with Jordan, Jack and a few people from the show's sponsor when his office door suddenly crashed up.

"Good morning, Matthew." He said, seeing his best friend burst into the room out of breath.

"Dan...we...I...you..." He shrugged to breath and talk at the same time. "Talk now!"

"I'm kind of in the middle of something here, Matt." Danny told him. "What is it?"

"Big... big trouble."

"What's happened?" Danny stood up from his desk, walking towards Matt.

He looked at Danny and then at the other people in the room who were watching them. Danny took the hint and turned to face them all.

"If you'll excuse me for just one moment..." He told him. "I'll be right back."

As they walked down the corridor, Matt tried to get hold of his breath and get his head around what he just been told.

"Okay, so what's the big emergency?" Danny asked once they were in Matt's office.

"Y'know Jess?"

"Yeah, your girlfriend." Danny nodded, sitting on the edge of the desk whilst Matt started to pace around.

"Apparently, she's pregnant."

Danny stood up straight. "With a baby?"

"No, with a chimpanzee!" He replied sarcastically. "Yes, a baby!"

"Hey, had to check... you're the father after all..." Danny held his hands up in mock defence. "You are the father, aren't you?"

Matt glared at him again. "Do you want me to punch you?"

"How far gone is she?" He asked, ignoring his comment.

"Just over 9 weeks." Matt answered, dropping onto the couch.

"You're not supposed to tell people until 12 weeks." Danny told him.

"Why not?"

"I don't know... Jordan told me." He shrugged.

Silence filled the office and Danny leaned back against the desk, looking at Matt who was now led face down on the couch.

"So, you're really going to be a father, uh?"

"I don't know how to be a father." Matt mumbled into a cushion.

"You'll be okay, we'll learn together..." Danny told him, walking over and pushing his legs off the couch so he could sit next to him.

Matt sighed, sat up straight and looked at him.

"People are going to think we planned this."

"Planned what?"

"Have babies a few months apart."

"Why would anyone thing we planned it?"

"Because we do everything together..." Matt answered. "They already think we're weird."

"Well, you are weird." Danny told him. "But just think, are kids are going to grow up together."

"I guess."

"They can be best friends." Danny added. "Hey, if we have one of each, they can date and then get married!"

"Then it would be like we were related!"

"I call the boy." Danny said quickly.

"What?" Matt looked at him.

"I want a boy...you can have the girl." Danny explained.

"You can't call it!" Matt claimed.

"I just did."

"Why do you get the boy?"

"Because Jordan is due first... the guy is always older then the girl in relationship."

"It would only be by 7 weeks!" Matt told him. "And it's the 21st century no one cares about age or stuff!"

"But this is better this way." Danny assured him.

"I don't want a girl!"

"I've already called for a boy."

"Oh my god!"

"What?"

"You're going to encourage your son to have sex with my little girl, aren't you?!"

Danny stared at him for a moment until there was a knock on the door and Jordan put her head around the door.

"If you guys are done, Danny we need you back in the meeting."

"Yeah, okay I'm coming; this conversation has turned too weird, even for me." He stood up. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." She nodded before closing the door again behind her.

"There's a meeting going on? Should I be there?" Matt asked.

"Probably." Danny shrugged. "Want to come in?"

"Nah." He shook his head.

"You going to be okay though?" He asked, pausing at the door.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Matt, remember... don't be scared."

"Don't be scared." He repeated, with a small smile. "Okay."

"Okay." Danny smiled before leaving the office.

Matt leaned back on the couch, running his hands over his face before sitting up and staring wide-eyed, ahead.

"Oh my god, I'm going to be a Dad!"

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! Thanks for the reviews!! Glad you liked it!! Thanks to Allie for all her help, once again!! Here's the next part, hoping you like it, please review and let me know!!! **

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

Danny walked into a small quiet coffee shop because Matt had asked to him meet him there.

"So, what's going on?" Danny asked as he approached the table where Matt was sat. "Why did you want to meet here?"

"I wanted to talk." He said, as he watched his friend sit opposite him.

"And you didn't realise we work together?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "I didn't want anyone to over hear us."

"Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" Danny asked, picking up the coffee that Matt had already ordered for him.

"Went to the doctors with Jess today." He told him with a slight smile.

"Yeah?" Danny asked. "Everything okay?"

"He said that both mother and baby are healthy." He replied. "We heard the heart beat and everything."

Danny smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"You scared?" He asked, after a few seconds of silence.

"Out of my mind scared." Matt replied, looking up at him before smiling. "But out of this world happy."

"Good." Danny grinned. "I've haven't seen you like this is such a long time."

"It's weird, a few months ago I was so jealous of Harriet and Darren Wells and now I'm having a baby with a girl that is the complete opposite to my normal type of woman."

"How are you and Jess?" Danny asked. "Still going okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." He nodded.

"You think so?"

"Well, we're still spending a lot of time together, without wanting to kill each other... we can still make each other laugh."

"I think that's pretty good." Danny told him.

"So do I, its just no relationship I've been in has stayed like that."

"Well, if they would have done you wouldn't still be single." Danny stated. "Maybe you just needed to find the right girl."

"How do I know if Jess is the right girl?"

"You'll just know." Danny assured him.

"Yeah, I guess." He nodded. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"I don't know...for just being here."

"No problem." Danny replied.

"Want to see the scan photo?" He asked, pulling it out of his pocket.

"Aww, they look just like you." Danny teased, looking at the picture.

"She."

"What?"

"It's a she." Matt told him.

"A girl?" Danny looked at him. "You're having a daughter?"

"That's what the doctor said."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Pretty good I guess, I mean the main thing is that the baby is healthy, right?" He replied. "And maybe having a little girl would be fun."

"You're going to spoil her, aren't you."? Danny predicted.

"No."

"Yeah right, she's going to have you wrapped around her little finger."

Matt looked down at the scan picture and smiled. "Actually, I think she already does."

XxXxX

Harriet watched Matt as he re-wrote something for the show. There was something different about him. He didn't seem so stressed as normal but she could tell there was something on his mind. She wondered whether it had anything to do with Jess, if they were having problems. They had been together for almost 5 months and Harriet was beginning to wonder whether they really were in love and were going to spend the rest of their lives together. She wanted to tell him that Jess wasn't the girl for him, that she loved him and wanted to be with him but there was so many reasons stopping her. The main one being she was the one who told him to move on with his life and find someone else... She couldn't admit that she had made a mistake, not now.

"Hey, Matt, you going to come to that new club's opening tonight?" Simon asked.

"I can't, I'm seeing Jess." He mumbled, trying to concentrate on what he was writing.

"Bring her with you."

"No, she hasn't been feeling too good lately..." He replied still not looking up. "I'm going make her dinner then we'll just have a quiet night in."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Matthew Albie put a girls feeling ahead of his own." Harriet commented before she had the chance to stop herself.

"What?" That gained his attention, causing him to look at her.

"Uh, nothing." She replied, seeing everyone looking at her surprised by what she had just said. She had surprised herself; she didn't know where that came from.

"Right." Matt looked at her for a moment before back down at the paper.

"So, things still good between you two, then?" Harriet asked and again everyone looked at her.

Matt sighed and put down his pen. "Yes, great... is there something on your mind?"

"No, nothing...just curious..." She told him. "A little surprised too."

"Why is that?"

"Well, you're not actually known for having great relationships..." She said. She was telling herself to stop talking but her mouth wasn't listening. "And she's not your type really, is she?"

"I don't know, what's my type?" Matt asked, getting a bit annoyed.

"Glamour's, showbiz girls...not some shy school teacher."

"Okay, I'm not having this conversation." Matt stated, picking up the papers. "I'll be in my office."

"Oh come on, Matthew...It's what everyone's talking about. There must be a reason why you're with her?"

He turned to look at her. "Maybe the reason we're so good together is because she's not like the other women I've had relationships with."

Harriet looked at him, she didn't have a come back to that comment. She didn't know why she even said anything about it in the first place, she just couldn't stop herself. Now she had annoyed Matt and everyone was stood watching them.

"I don't even know why you care so much," Matt continued. "You dumped me, remember?"

"What? You think I'm jealous or something?" She asked.

"I don't know what's going on with you, any more." He shook his head slightly. "You told me to move on with my life and find someone else... and I did that."

"Yeah and we're meant to be friends." She stated. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"Oh, so you're protecting me? Sorry, I didn't realise that!" He said sarcastically.

"Come on, Matt what's the point in getting into a serious relationship with someone when everyone knows you're going to get scared or bored or whatever it is that happens to you."

"You can't blame our break up all on me!" He claimed. "I know I was never the perfect boyfriend and I know that I made mistakes but it was you who sent that email. It was you who ended it."

"I know that."

"So, why have you got a problem with me dating someone else?" He asked.

"Because you're just setting yourself up to get hurt." She told him.

"You don't know that." He shook his head slightly.

"I know you...You're 35 years old, Matt and all you do is work and go out with Danny!" She said.

"Hey, that's not all I do..."

"She's 25 years old and will probably want to be out partying with her friends." She continued, the jealousy in her voice clear to everyone apart from Matt.

"Harriet, maybe you should calm down a little." Tom said quietly, stepping closer to her but she ignored him.

"And it would be a miracle if you guys were still together when she does want to settle down and have a family."

"Harri..." Tom cut in again.

"Maybe that's a good thing, though... I mean you still act like a child yourself... how can you raise a kid?" She didn't know why she said it, she always thought he'd make a great Dad but she just wanted to hurt him, like she was hurting now.

There was silence in the studio; no one knew what to say. They all just stood back and watched Matt and Harriet staring at each other.

"Y'know, what? You're wrong." He told her. "You're wrong about everything. Jess might be 10 years younger then me but we both want the same things."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the scan picture, which he had been carrying around with him.

"She's pregnant..." He held up the picture. "And I'm so scared about being a father but this is also the best thing that has never happened to me and I already love that little baby so much."

"You're... you're serious?" Harriet stuttered.

"Yes and its a little girl." He told her. "In 5 months I'm going to have a daughter... I don't care what you think or feel about it but you will have to get used to it because it's happening."

Everyone watched, shocked as Matt turned and went up the stairs to his office.

"Wow, I never saw that coming." Simon broke the silence.

Harriet stood with her fist clenched tightly at her sides. She couldn't believe it. She had missed her chance with him for good.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, thanks for all the reviews! Please keep them coming!! **

**Enjoy!!! **

**A Different Kind Of Love **

Matt throw his tennis ball around in the air as he paced his office. He couldn't believe that he had just announced to everyone about the baby. He knew they would have found out sooner or later but that wasn't how he imagined telling them. Also, he didn't imagine Harriet to act the way she did. He didn't get why she was being so spiteful about the whole thing. She was the one who told him to move, she was the one who dated both Darren Wells and Luke Scott.

"Hey, Jordan was wondering whether you and Jess would like to go out for dinner with us tonight." Danny asked, walking to the office.

"What?" Matt asked, spinning around to face him. "No, no, we're going to stay in tonight."

"Okay." He nodded slightly, watching him for a moment. "You okay?"

"Sure."

"What is it?"

"I sort of told everyone about the baby." He replied.

"I thought you didn't want anyone else to know just yet."

"I didn't...not really, its just... Harriet and I were kind of having a fight and it just slipped out."

"Why were you having a fight."

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Matt?"

"I'm serious, I don't know why." He told him. "Simon asked if I was going to the club opening tonight and I said we were going to stay in and Harriet made some comment about it being the first time I actually considered someone else feelings."

"Really? You didn't say anything to provoke her?"

"No!" He claimed. "Then she started asking questions about mine and Jess' relationship and then she said stuff about me being immature."

"That doesn't sound like Harriet." Danny replied.

"Tell me about it, I know that we argue a lot sometimes but she's never been like that before. She just kept on and on about how me and Jess weren't going to work out."

"She really said that?"

"She said I wouldn't be a good father." Matt added quietly.

"What?"

"What if she's right?" He asked.

"She isn't."

"Come on, Danny... She was the one I was planning on spending the rest of my life with...to have kids with...maybe that's why she dumped me because she didn't think I was good enough."

"What do you care what she thinks?" Danny asked. "You're with Jessica now, don't mess things up because of some old feelings you still have for Harriet."

"I don't have old feelings for Harriet." He told him. "I mean, I think I'll always care about her and I thought we'd be friends... but that's it... I am so happy with Jess."

"Good."

"I just don't want to let her down or the baby..." Matt sat down. "I know nothing about babies...If I don't know how to be a father, how can I be a good one?"

"Arg! Do I really need to have this conversation again!" Danny sighed loudly, but was talking more to himself then to Matt.

"What?"

"I've been through this with Jordan... and I've been through it with, already...twice." He sat next to him. "You will learn... you won't be alone because Jess will be going through the same thing as you. Besides, you're going to have your friends and family around to help as well."

"Yeah, I guess." He nodded slightly.

"Have you even told your family yet?" Danny inquired.

"Yep, my Mom was on the phone crying for over an hour. She thought this day would never come." He smiled slightly. "My parents, my brother and his family are coming down in the next couple of weeks to meet Jess."

"See, everyone is happy for you." Danny told him. "I don't know what's going on with Harriet, maybe she's just having a bad day but I'm sure you guys will sort it out. You always do."

"Yeah."

"Look, I got to go and meet Jordan." Danny stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay thanks."

"What I'm here for."

_**XxXxX**_

Harriet knocked on Danny's office door.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, stepping inside when she heard him shout to come in.

"Yeah, take a seat." He told her and waited until she was sat down before continuing. "You spoken to Matt yet?"

"What about?" She asked, looking down.

"You know what about." Danny told her. "I heard about yesterday..."

"Look, if you're going to lecture me..." She started to stand up.

"Harriet, sit down." He ordered. "I'm not going to lecture you."

"What do you want me to say, Danny? We had a fight, it's what we do."

"Yeah, when you guys were dating.. but you're not now. You've got a new boyfriend and Matt's got a new girlfriend." He told her. "I know that's Matt's said stuff to you and I know that you've said stuff to him but you guys need to sort this out and end it..."

"Danny, I appreciate you're trying to look out for Matthew..."

"Matt is my best friend...he's like a little brother to me and I'd die for him, you know that more then anyone but I haven't brought you in here to shout at you about what happened yesterday." He cut her off. "All everyone is talking about is the fight yesterday... and I'm just trying to make sure it doesn't effect my show."

"Right." She nodded slightly. "I'm sorry if I've done something to effect the show..."

"And I think you need to apologise to him."

"What?" She asked. "Why should I?"

"Because his your boss and you'd never talk to me like you did to him. When we started back here, you both said your relationship wouldn't interferer." Danny stated.

"Oh come on, Danny... Matt and I are totally different to you and I." She claimed.

"Harriet, you said some really horrible things to him in front of his own staff!" Danny stated.

"I don't know what he's told you..."

"It wasn't just him." He told her. "Some of the others said some of the stuff you said were out of line."

"What?"

"You said he was going to be a bad father... How can you say that to him?"

"I didn't...i didn't mean how it sounded." She claimed.

"Well, why did you even say it? Did you want to hurt him? Because you did that already."

"Of course I didn't want to hurt him..."

Danny took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Look, Harriet, you need to back off."

"What?"

"You're jealous he's with Jessica..."

"I am not..."

"Please, let me finish... Let me say something not as your boss or your friend...but as Matt's friend."

Harriet stopped talking and nodded slightly in agreement.

"He's happy...I am just as surprised as everyone else that he's fallen someone other then you...I thought you guys were meant to be... but he's moved on." He informed her. "I don't know why you're jealous...whether it's because you actually still have feelings for him or you just don't like that he has feelings for someone other then you... but you're screwing with his head and you need to stop because there's not just his relationship with Jess at stake here... there's a baby involved now."

Harriet sat silently, taking in all of what he had just said.

"He's already scared as hell of being a father but its what he wants." He continued. "And he could really use some friends around him to help."

"Yeah, okay...you're right." She said quietly. "I guess... I guess I was just surprised how serious they got so quickly...but you're right...I'll say sorry."

"Good." Danny nodded, watching as she stood up.

"Um, Tom wanted me to go through this sketch idea with him so I better go and do that." She said, as she headed for the door.

Danny sighed once she had gone. He just wished for once that everything wasn't so complicated.

_**XxXxX**_

Harriet threw the magazine into the trash can, sighing. There were more articles about Matt and Jessica. Everyone was so fascinated by the fact that Matt Albie had chosen a shy, quiet teacher to settle down with. It had been two weeks since their fight and even though she had said sorry and he had accepted the apology, things had not gone back to how they were. They didn't talk about everything other then the show and even that was kept to a minimum and he would avoid her as much as he could.

"Hey, Danny said you were still down here." Jordan walked into her dressing room. "I thought we could catch up..."

"Okay, sure." Harriet smiled at her. "How's the baby?"

"Kicking a lot." She told her. "Danny thinks he's going to be a soccer star."

"It's a boy?" Harriet questioned.

"Uh, no...Danny also thinks it'll be a boy...I guess he's got me thinking that to now. Something to do with Matt having a daughter... apparently that means we get a son." She rolled her eyes.

"I guess that's just boys being boys." Harriet said, smiling sadly, she wished she was more involved in this. Matt would always mean so much to her and over the years Danny had become a good friend.

"They're driving both me and Jess crazy!" Jordan continued. "They see it as some kind of competition. Remember that electronic doll I had? Well, Danny fixed it...and they compete with each other. Who can change the diaper faster or got the bottle ready..."

Jordan trailed off when she noticed Harriet was sat silently, looking down.

"You don't want to hear all of this, do you?"

"No, I do..." Harriet looked up quickly, forcing a smile.

"I heard about the fight." Jordan said. "Do you love him?" 

"What?" Harriet stood up and turned her back to her, pretending to be looking for something.

"Do you love Matt?" She asked again.

"We broke up a while ago..."

"I didn't ask that."

"Jordan..." She sighed and turned to face her.

"Look, a woman only acts like you did because of one reason. Jealousy." She stated. "Now is it because he's not giving any attention to you now or because you love him."

"I've already had this talk from Danny."

"Do you love him?" She cut her off.

Harriet paused and tried to think of what to say before sighing in defeat. "I never stopped."

"I was afraid of that." Jordan replied. "I know how hard it must be but I think you got to let him go."

"What?"

"He's happy... and I guess you're probably sick of people telling you this but you were the one who told him to move on... and he's found someone he cares for... and they're good together." Jordan told her softly. "And they're having a baby...they're going to be a family."

Harriet nodded slightly, a few tears filled her eyes. "I know."

"He's so excited about it too...If you love him as much as you say you do then you can't mess this up for him." She added.

"I know that too." She whispered, a few tears falling.

"Harriet, it'll be okay." Jordan hugged her. "You have Luke."

"No, I don't." She replied. "I broke up with him two weeks ago."

"What?"

"Yeah, I thought maybe if I was single then Matt might end things with Jessica."

"What did he say when you told him?" She asked.

"I didn't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Because... because even though I've been acting like a bitch... deep down I knew he was happy...I knew he had moved on." She told her.

"Oh Harriet..." Jordan hugged her again as she started to cry.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, here's the next part!! hope you like it! Thank again to Allie!! Please review! **

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

Jessica walked down the corridors towards Matt's office, smiling at people politely who looked at her. She never thought things would turn out like this. When she first saw Matt in that bar, she only went up to him because she had quite a bit to drink and was lonely after splitting up with her boyfriend. She was sure the next morning, she'd wake up and find that he was gone but he was still there. They had both agreed not to get into a serious relationship but the more time they spent together, the more serious they got and neither of them stopped it.

She knocked quietly on the office door before entering, seeing Matt sat with his head on his desk.

"Hey, is this a bad time?" She asked.

He looked up quickly. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I brought you dinner." She held up a bag as he walked towards her. "I know you said you had to work late but can you take a break?"

He smiled, reached out and took the bag, slipping his arm around her waist and leading her towards the couch. "For you, I can."

She smiled up at him. "You work too hard."

"It's Wednesday and we don't have anything for the show on Friday." He replied, pulling her down gently next to him on the couch. "It's your fault."

"Mine?" She looked over to him quickly.

"Yeah, every time I try to write I keep thinking about you." He told her. "You distract me."

"Hey, it's not my fault you have a short attention span." She replied.

He laughed slightly and kissed her cheek before pulling some containers out of a bag. "This looks great by the way."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"But you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble." He told her.

"Well, like I said, you've been working hard lately." She shrugged.

"I'm meant to be the one looking after you." He stated.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm pregnant, not ill...I can look after myself."

"But you like it when I look after you, don't you?" He asked.

She looked at him for a moment, pretending to think about it but she couldn't help but smile after a few seconds.

"I love it."

He grinned and kissed the side of her head. "Good."

"Okay, now be quiet and eat up." She ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." He grinned again.

An hour later, Matt had gone back to his desk to try and write again.

"I thought you were going to sleep." He said when Jess stood up and walked towards him.

"I can't..." She replied, moving behind him. "How's it going?"

"Badly." He sighed, moaning quietly when she started to massage his shoulders.

"What's going on, Matt?" She asked.

"It's called writers block." He told her.

"Yeah, but what's brought it on?" She questioned. "I know something has happened, something that you're not telling me."

"Jess..."

"Come on, you can tell me..." She told him. "You can tell me anything."

He turned his chair around to face her. "I know that."

"So, what is it?"

"It's nothing really... the other day, Harriet and I had an argument."

"Oh..." She replied. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't want to worry you." He told her.

"Why would I worry?"

"Because she's my ex-girlfriend." He replied.

"Should I be worried?"

"What? No?"

"Really?"

"Yes, really, I promise you." He assured her. "It was just something stupid and we both overreacted."

"So, if it was something stupid why is it stopping you from working?" She asked.

"Because it was in front of everyone and things have been a little tense around here since."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"Not yet..."

"Why not?"

"I don't know..." He shrugged. "Maybe its better this way."

"Matt, it's almost midnight and you're still working because of this argument. You need to sort it out."

He sighed. "I'm just sick of all the fighting. I mean we're not even together any more and we still fight."

"Maybe she's jealous." Jessica suggested.

"What? Why would she jealous"?

"Because she still has feeling for you."

"She doesn't." He shook his head.

"How do you know?"

"Because she broke up with me... she told me to move on... she's dating Luke Scott." He told her. "Besides she's not the one for me."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because you're the one for me."

She smiled slightly at his answer. "You really believe that?"

"Yeah." He stood up, circling his arms around her loosely. "You're the most important thing in my life."

She went to lean into kiss him when she felt the baby kick. "Wow."

"What?"

"Nothing, just your daughter kicking me."

He laughed slightly and leaned down to kiss her stomach. "I think she's worried we forgot about her."

When he stood back up straight, he noticed she had tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, frowning slightly.

"Nothing..." She smiled. "I'm just happy."

"Really?" He asked and she nodded. "Me too."

He slowly leaned in and kissed her softly, pulling her closer to him before pulling back and resting his forehead against hers.

"You should try and get some sleep."

"Only if you do too." She replied.

"Babe, I wish I could but need to get some work done..."

"Please, I can't get comfortable without you next to me."

"That's so corny." He told her and pulled her back towards the couch. "How about I lie with you until you fall asleep."

"Okay, fine." She agreed.

He lay down and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hand on her stomach. After a few minutes, she turned in his arms slowly to look at him and smiled when she saw he had fallen asleep. She carefully stood up, hoping not to stir him. She grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and covered him with it before silently leaving the office.

She headed downstairs, hoping that Harriet was still there. She turned the corner and saw Tom and Simon stood by the coffee machine.

"Hey, Jess...How are you?" Tom asked.

"I'm fine thank you." She smiled. "You two?"

"Tried." Simon replied.

"Why don't you go home?" She asked.

"We're working on something to show Matt." Tom explained. "I think, he's in his office if you're looking for him."

"Yeah, I was up there." She told him. "I was actually looking for Harriet."

"Oh right... well, she's in her dressing room."

"Oh good. Thank you." She smiled at them again before walking towards Harriet's room.

"Come in." Harriet called when there was a knock on her door; she looked up and saw Jess. "Oh, hi... if you're looking for Matthew, he's not here."

"No, I know...I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, okay." Harriet replied, slowly. "What about?"

"Matt told me about the argument you guys had." She said.

"Um, well yeah I think I said some things that were out of line." She replied. "I didn't mean them, I guess I was just having a bad day."

"Well, the reason I'm down here is because I know that even though he's trying to act like he doesn't care, he misses you."

"What?"

"It's okay...I understand that you guys are probably always going to have some sort of feelings for each other but I trust him. I know he wouldn't hurt me." She told her. "And I also know that you guys have known each for a long time and when you were together, you were good friends."

Harriet nodded slightly. "Yeah, we were."

"Don't throw that friendship away because of me."

"Because of you?" Harriet repeated.

"Matt means so much to me, I don't want to come in between him and someone he's known for a long time." She stated. "And everyone talks about you a lot...I mean, when we've been out with Danny and Jordan, I hear all these stories about you. It would be really great if we could be friends too."

Harriet smiled slightly; she couldn't believe that Jess was saying all of this. She couldn't believe how understanding and nice she actually was.

"I would like that too."

"Really?" Jess smiled.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Maybe one night after you both have had the babies, me, you and Jordan could get together and have a girls' night out."

"That would be great." She replied. "We could leave Matt and Danny to babysit."

Harriet smiled again. A few months ago she would never thought she'd hear someone say that sentence.

"How is the baby?" She inquired.

"Well, she likes moving around." Jess told her, automatically placing her hand on her stomach. "She's quite restless..."

"I guess she gets that from her Father." Harriet stated. "Have you decided on any names?"

"We've picked a few." She nodded. "Every other day we change our minds... at the moment, we're agreeing on Grace May."

"Grace May Albie... That's really cute."

"Yeah, Matt chose it." She smiled. "Speaking of Matt, I better get back up there, I left him sleeping."

"Well, it was nice to talk to you."

"Yeah, you too." She replied.

"I'll talk to Matthew later, we'll sort everything out." She told her.

"Good." She smiled at her one more time before leaving.

She quietly let herself back into Matt's office and was glad to see he was still asleep. She carefully lay back down next to him. He moved and wrapped his arms around her when she did.

"Where'd you go?" He mumbled sleepily.

"No where." She whispered, placing a small kiss on his lips.

"Baby Gracie okay?" He asked, instantly moving his hand back down to her stomach.

"She's fine." She assured him. "I just went down to talk to Harriet."

He forced his eyes open to look at her. "What?"

"I just told her that I know you guys have been good friends for a long time and that I want you to sort things out..."

"But..."

"I also said I want her and I to become friends." She continued. "Once the baby is here, we're going out with Jordan for a girls' night."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, you and Danny are babysitting."

"Oh are we, now."

"Yes." She smiled, sweetly at him and kissed him again.

"Okay." He agreed.

"What you doing?" She asked, when he started to sit up.

"I got to get some work done..." He told her. "I wasn't meant to fall asleep, you tricked me."

"Sorry..." She replied but pulled him back down. "But you need sleep."

"I've got to write something."

"Simon and Tom are working on something." She told him. "Let someone else worry about it for once."

He sighed slightly. "I really should..."

"Please..." She grabbed his hand, putting it on her bump again. "Gracie wants her Daddy to stay here."

"Okay, fine." He gave in. "But you won't always be able to use Gracie to get me to do what you want."

"Baby, we both know that I will." She smiled and kissed his cheek.

He sighed again. "Danny was right, she's going to have me wrapped around her little finger, isn't she."

Jess laughed slightly. "Oh yes."

He kissed her forehead. "Okay, lets get some rest."

"Okay." She agreed, moving closer to him, causing him to tighten his arms around her and it wasn't long until they both were asleep.

XxXxX

"Hi, can I talk to you for a minute?" Harriet asked, when she saw Matt in the corridor the next day.

"Uh, yeah sure... come into my office." He told her.

She nodded and silently followed him. Once he had closed the door behind her, she turned to face him.

"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting." She said. "I was a bitch."

"No, it's okay..." He told her. "I'm sorry too."

"I really am happy for you." She stated. "Its just weird seeing you with someone else.

"Yeah, I know..." He looked down.

"I guess that's how you felt about Darren and Luke."

"A little." He agreed.

"But it's okay now... I spoke to Jess last night and she's perfect for you."

"You really think that?" He asked.

"Yeah, before I wasn't sure... I didn't really know her...I didn't get a chance to know her."

"Well, I'm glad you like her."

"Yeah..." She nodded. "It's still a little weird though."

"What is?"

"Just how after everything we can still be friends... how I want to be friends with your new girlfriend."

"I guess you're right." He replied. "But it'll be okay."

"Yeah, I know." She nodded. "I'd better go."

"Okay and thanks for coming to talk."

"No problem, thanks for listening."

They smiled at each other before she turned to leave.

XxXxX

A few weeks later, everything was going great for everyone. Jordan had only 5 weeks left of her pregnancy whilst Jess had 12. Both Danny and Matt were excited about it and would always go out and then come back with some new baby clothes or some toys. Everything had turned back to normal in the studio. Everyone was getting along for once. Since their talk Harriet and Jess had become good friends and even though she knew how happy Matt and Jess were, Harriet still felt jealous. She still had strong feelings for him and she didn't know how to get rid of them.

"Hey, Tom mentioned you were having a problem with the 'married couple' sketch..." Matt said as he walked into Harriet's dressing room.

"It's just this one bit when they are talking and then she suddenly starts shouting at him."

"What wrong with it?"

"I don't know how to make it funny."

"Oh, well...umm, maybe when they're talking, you can move closer and closer to Tom, as if you're going to kiss him... then start shouting..."

"I don't know."

"Well, try it on me, see if it works." He suggested.

"Okay." She said and started reading her lines, moving closer to closer to him until their faces were almost touching, like he had said but then she stopped talking. They both just stared into each other's eyes.

"What you doing?" He asked, quietly when she leaned in closer but he still didn't move away.

"I uh...um… sorry." She stuttered and she didn't move away either. They just kept looking at each other until Harriet leaned inwards again and this time he didn't stop her.

When her lips touched his, she slowly put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He moaned quietly and kissed back, turning the kiss more passionate. Harriet walked backwards until she fell down onto the couch, pulling him down with her but still didn't break the kiss. He jumped when he felt her hands slid up his shirt and stood up quickly, not realising his cell phone dropping onto the floor.

"I'm sorry, this isn't right..." He stuttered, straightening his shirt out, avoiding looking at her as she just lay on the couch, watching him. "I've got to go."

She didn't say anything as he rushed out of the dressing room, not stopping to look back at her.

XxXxX

Harriet sighed as she messed up her line once again. She was rehearing the 'married couple' sketch with Tom later that day but she couldn't get it right.

"I'm sorry." She said to him.

"It's okay, want to take a break?" He asked.

Harriet glanced at the stands where Matt, Andy, Lucy, Darius, Simon and Cal were sat watching them. Although, she had noticed that Matt had looked up from his laptop since she got onto the stage.

"No, I'll get it this time..."

"How's it going in here?" Danny asked as he walked in.

"Slow." Simon replied causing Harriet to glare at him.

"Right...well um, Cal... do you think you can cope on your own for a little while?"

"Well, sure... I guess... But it's Wednesday, we need to get to get this sketch right."

"Andy will help you."

"Why? What's going on?" Simon asked.

"Nothing, me and Matt need to go for a walk." Danny said.

"I don't want to for a walk." Matt mumbled still not looking up.

"Matt, just come with me."

"Why?"

"Matt."

"Where we going?"

"The hospital."

"I don't want to"

He was not in the mood for Danny's little games. Every now and then they'd race to the hospital to try and find the fast way of getting there for when the girls went into labour.

"Matt..." He sighed but still didn't look up. "Matt, Jess has a had fall."

That gained his attention. "What?"

"She's okay, she just slipped on a wet floor." He told him.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone and freak you out."

"But she's okay?" He asked.

"Well..."

"Well, what?" Matt asked. "What is it?"

Danny glanced at everyone watching them and sighed. "She's gone into labour, Matt."

"No."

"Matt..."

"No, you're wrong." He told her. "It's too early... she's got 12 weeks left."

"I know but... but the baby's coming now."

There was silence; no one knew what to say. They all just watched, Matt trying to get his head around it all.

"Matt, we need to..." Danny started but stopped when Matt suddenly jumped up and ran out.

"I'll call you." Danny shouted back to Cal as he ran after his friend.

XxXxX

Danny paced around the waiting room. He had been there for two hours, as soon as they arrived a nurse took Matt into Jess' room and he hadn't seen him since. He had asked someone what was going on and they had said, they tried to delay the labour but they couldn't for very long and they had taken Jess to have a C-section. He had called the studio to see how they were getting on and told them what was happening. Cal assured him they were getting things done slowly and asked him to let Matt know they were all thinking of him, Jess and the baby.

"Hey, what's going on?" He said when he saw Matt walking towards him.

"I...uh...I... I have a daughter." He stuttered.

"IS everything okay?" He asked.

"She's tiny..." He replied. "They have to take her to the ICU... because she's so early..."

"But she's going to be okay?"

"They said there might be some complications." Matt told him. "But she's strong..."

"Of course she is." Danny smiled. "She'll be fine."

"Yeah, they're just going to look after her for a while." He nodded.

"What about Jess?"

"They said she's going to be okay she just needs some rest."

"That's great!"

"Yeah."

"You okay?" He asked.

"Uh-huh... I'm a father, Dan... I actually have a little girl."

"I know." Danny smiled.

"You want to see her?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, come on." He smiled and led him to where his daughter was being looked after.

"Oh, I'm sorry but only family are allowed in here." A nurse stopped Danny at the door.

"He is family." Matt told her. "He's her uncle."

The nurse glanced back at the doctor who was looking after the baby and he nodded that it was okay.

They stood side by side next to the incubator and looked down at the little girl.

"Wow." Danny whispered, he couldn't believe how tiny she was and he was a little surprised at the amount of machines that were surrounding her.

"She has a long way to go yet but she's a tough little girl." The Doctor told them. "I've done some test and I'll be able to tell you more when we get the results."

"Okay, thank you." Matt whispered, his eyes never leaving his baby girl.

"Does she have a name yet?" He asked.

"Grace May." Matt replied.

"Okay." The doctor smiled. "I'll leave you alone with her... if there is anything you need just have someone page me."

"Thank you, doctor." Matt said as he left the room.

Danny leaned down closer to the incubator. "Hey, Gracie May... I'm Danny... I'll be around for you any time your Mom and Dad are driving you crazy, okay?"

Matt smiled, looking at her with tears in his eyes. They stayed there for 45 minute before they were told they had to take her for some tests and would come and find them again when they were done.

"You should go back to the studio." Matt told Danny as they walked down the corridor.

"Cal can cope."

"Dan, we got a live show to put on in two days, one of us needs to be there." Matt told him.

"You going to be okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I got to make some phone calls...then I'll sit with Jess."

"Well, if you're sure."

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay, well call me if you need anything."

"I will..." He replied. "And thanks for being here with me."

"I wouldn't have been anywhere else."

XxXxX

The next morning, Andy, Lucy and Darius were sitting around the table in the writer's room when the door opened.

"Matt, what are you doing here?" Andy asked.

"Have you written anything else?" He asked, ignoring his question.

"We've been working on this." Lucy said, slowly handing him a few pieces of paper. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital."

"The live show is tomorrow." He mumbled reading what they had come up with.

"How's the baby?" Andy asked, glancing at the other two.

"Small..." He replied. "This is quite good... but needs some work. Go and get Simon and Tom to help... bring them to my office."

"Matt, should you be here?"

"Please, just do as I ask." He replied, leaving the room before anyone could say any more.

They did what he said and went to find Tom and Simon. When Harriet found out, Matt had turned up; she went with them to his office to find out what was going on.

"Matthew, what are you doing here?" She asked, as they walked into the room.

"If one more person asks, me that..." He started before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "This is my show... and we need to get it done."

They all looked at each other questionable but no one knew what was going on.

"Right, okay read this..." Matt handed the sketch the writers had written to Simon. "What do you think?"

"Matt?" Danny and Jordan walked in.

"Don't ask." Matt cut him off.

"What's going on?"

"We're working..."

"You shouldn't be here." He told him.

"We need to get the show done." Matt replied.

Everyone stepped back and stayed silent... they all knew something was going on and that Danny would be the only one who Matt would talk to.

"Has something happened to Gracie."

"She's fine!" Matt claimed.

"What about Jess?" He asked but Matt didn't answer. "Matt?"

"Sim, do you think you can work on that with..." Matt started, ignoring Danny.

"What's happened to Jess, Matt?" Danny asked, interpreting.

"Danny, don't." He whispered.

"Matt, talk to me." He said softly.

Matt closed his eyes tightly; hoping it would stop the tears but it didn't work as a couple escaped his eyes and rolled down his cheek.

"Matt..." Danny said again, stepping closer to him.

"She dead, Danny." He whispered, his voice raking with emotion as he opened his eyes and more tears fell. "She died."

"What?"

"She... there... they said there was a bleed or something... she lost too much blood... they couldn't do anything..." He explained, his head dropping into his hand as he broke down. "She's gone."

Danny quickly wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly as he cried.

**TBC**

**Please Review and Let Me Know What You Think**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the great reviews!! Please keep them coming! I really love hearing what you think!!! Here's the next part! I hope you like it!! **

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

Danny closed the door to Matt's office as everyone else left. He paused with his hand still resting on the door handle. He couldn't believe that Jess was actually gone. The doctors had said she was going to be fine. He didn't know how he was going to make it better for Matt. He turned to look at him. Matt was now sat on the couch, looking at the wall ahead. Danny just watched him for a while. Trying to think of something to say but he knew that no matter what he come up with it wouldn't make things right.

He silently walked over and sat down next to him, hoping him just being there was enough for his friend right now.

"It wasn't meant to be like this." Matt whispered.

"I know." Was Danny's reply.

"She didn't even get to hold her." He added. "It's not right."

Danny turned to look at him. "I know...I know there's nothing I can say to you right now but I am here for you... you and Gracie..."

Matt slowly nodded his head, a lump forming in his throat, stopping him from speaking as a few more tears escaped his eyes and rolled down his face.

"I'm going to get you through, this okay?" Danny told him, trying to hold onto his own emotions.

"How?" Matt choked out.

"I don't know yet but I promise you."

"I loved her, Danny... I really loved her." He broke down.

"I know and so did she."

"I didn't deserve her..." He claimed. "This has happened because she was too good for me."

"Don't you dare start blaming yourself!" Danny told him. "This isn't your fault... this isn't anyone fault...I don't know why it's happened... It shouldn't have happened."

"Grace needs her..." Matt replied. "I need her, I can't do this alone."

"You're not going to be alone..." Danny assured him. "I'll be here... I'll always be here."

XxXxX

"How can she be dead?" Simon broke the silence that had settle over everyone. "She's only young."

"It happens all the time." Jordan whispered, cradling her stomach protectively.

Harriet sat silently in the corner, deep in thought as guilt washed over her. How could she have kissed Matt? She knew that he was with Jess; she knew they were having a baby. She had become good friends with Jess and yet she still betrayed her at the same time she was dying.

"What's going to happen now?" Tom asked.

"What do you mean?" Jordan looked at him.

"Well, Matt's not going to be able to work for a while is he?" He stated. "I mean, not only is he grieving for someone he loved but he has a new baby to look after."

"If the baby survives." Simon commented.

"Don't say things like that!" Jordan turned and glared at him.

"All I'm saying is that she's 12 weeks early... She'll be fighting for her life."

"We know that but don't say anything like that in front of Matt or Danny."

"Okay, sorry..."

Just then Danny walked into the room.

"Hey, how is he?"

"Heartbroken, devastated, shocked, blaming himself, depressed and every other word you can think of." He sighed, running his hands over his eyes.

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Andy asked.

"I think he just needs a bit of space..." He replied. "It hasn't really sunk in yet."

"So, what's going to happen next?" Jordan asked.

"I really don't know." He shook his head. "Right now, I think he needs to be back at the hospital with Gracie... I have to go with him."

"What about the show?" Simon asked but everyone glared at him again.

"The show." Danny sighed, forgetting they only had one day left.

"It's okay, you go with him." Jordan told him. "We can handle everything here."

"Yeah, we have it sorted and if there is any problems we'll call you." Cal told him.

"You sure?" Danny looked to Jordan.

"Positive, just make sure you look after Matt and Gracie." She replied. "Forget about it for now, we can sort something out for the live show, later."

"Thank you." He whispered and then looked at the others. "Make sure she doesn't over work...make sure she gets some rest."

"Danny, I'm fine..." She started.

"Jordan, rest up, okay?" He cut her off.

She looked at him for a moment before nodding slightly. "Okay."

"Right, okay I'll call you to keep you updated with what's going on." He told them. "And I'll be back later."

"Don't worry about us, we got it covered." Cal told him.

Danny hesitated before nodding and turning to go into Matt's office.

"I have a question." Simon started causing everyone to look at him. "How are we meant to be funny after something like this has happened"?

No one answered, they all just looked at each other questionable before Jordan spoke.

"We're just going to have to try." She told them. "There's not much else we can do."

XxXxX

"What's the matter?" Danny asked when Matt stopped outside of the room where Gracie was.

"Nothing...what...what if she's asleep?" He asked. "We shouldn't wake her up."

"The nurse said it was okay." He told him.

"Yeah but..."

"But what?" Danny asked, looking at him concerned.

"Uh, nothing... nothing don't worry..." He shook his head and slowly pushed open the door.

Danny sighed, he knew Matt was holding something back and wished he would tell him.

Danny didn't know how long they had sat in silence for but he noticed that Matt had been looking everywhere else apart from at Gracie.

"I'm going to get a coffee?" Danny said, standing up. Hoping that if he left them alone, Matt would bond with her.

"What?" He stood up too. "I'll come with you."

"No, you stay here...it'll be okay, I won't be long." He told him.

"Danny..."

"Matt, she's your daughter... just sit with her...talk to her." Danny cut him off.

"I don't know how."

"Yes, you do... just give it a try." he said softly. "I'll be right back."

Matt watched him walk out of the room; he glanced at Grace for a moment before heading for the door himself.

Danny had called the studio to check up on everyone and even though Cal had said everything was going fine, Danny knew it wasn't but he didn't really care either.

"I got you a coffee..." He started before he realise Matt wasn't there. He sighed and looked down at Grace. "Where did your Daddy go?"

Danny had asked the doctor whether he had seen Matt and he told him that he had asked if he could see Jess. Danny was about to walk into the room but stopped when he heard Matt starting to talk to her.

"You weren't meant to leave me...it wasn't meant to work out like this...this isn't what we planned." He whispered. "I thought I had everything worked out... we were going to be a family... we were going to happy, me, you and our baby. Why weren't we allowed that?"

Danny made sure he was out sight so Matt didn't see him. He knew that he probably shouldn't be listening to this but he hoped that he would find out whatever it was that Matt wasn't telling him.

"I screwed up big time, I know that... I know that I didn't deserve you but I did love you... you have to know that... please... because it kills me thinking that you didn't." Matt continued, this time not bothering to hold onto his emotions. "I wish it was me where you are... you'd know what to do now... you'd know how to look after Grace... I don't even know how to even start dealing with any of this..."

Danny wanted to step into the room and tell him that everything would be okay but he knew he couldn't and that he had to let Matt have his moment with Jess.

"I know you came into my life unexpectedly but it's not fair that you left like that too." He stated. "You were taken away too soon... it shouldn't have happened to you... it shouldn't happen to Grace. What am I going to say when she asks about her Mom? How am I even going to be able to raise her?"

Danny's eyes closed as a few tears filled them. His heart was not only breaking for his best friend but for Grace too.

"I love you so much...please, please...come back... please…" Matt begged, clutching onto her hand.

"Matt..." Danny whispered, walking into the room.

Matt looked up at him but he didn't notice his friend was crying too.

"I just want everything to go back to how it was..."

"I know..."

"Please, I just want my life back...please..."

"Matt..." Danny tried again but found he had no words. He just watched silently as Matt placed a few small kisses on Jess' hand and whispered to her how much he loved her.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, guys thanks for all the reviews!! Here's the next part!! I hope you like it! Please review!! **

**Enjoy!!! **

**A Different Kind Of Love**

Monday morning Danny walked into the writer's room, causing everyone to look up.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked.

"Well, we have a few sketches written and Tom and Simon have been helping us." Andy informed him. "Do you want to have a look at them?"

"No, I just come down to let you know that Matt's going to be coming in here in the next hour or so." He told them.

"Really?" Simon asked. "But shouldn't he be at the hospital."

Danny sighed. "We've been down there but they told us to leave and get some rest. Matt said he'd rather work and keep his mind off of it, so he's just gone home to grab a shower and he'll be right in."

"How is the baby?" Tom questioned.

"It's still too early to really tell but she's fighting." Danny told them. "Just be careful what you say to, Matt okay? He's here to work."

"No problem." They all agreed.

"Right, if there's anything you need I'll be in my office." He told them before turning and leaving.

XxXxX

Matt walked into his office, sitting behind his desk and sighing. He was a little surprised that on his way to his office no one had stopped to ask about the baby... even Suzanne didn't say anything when he asked her to call the writers to come to his office. He guessed that Danny had been around and warned everyone that he was coming in. He didn't mind, he was actually a little grateful; he didn't want to talk about any of it. He just wanted to forget. If he had his way, he would have been here Friday when the show aired… and then working over the weekend getting ready for this weeks show but Danny wouldn't let him. He'd either have to go the hospital or be around Danny's house, who made sure he was eating and sleeping enough. He wanted to tell Danny to back off, to concentrate on Jordan and their child. He just wanted to be left alone.

"I heard you were up here."

Matt looked up and saw Harriet stood in the doorway. "Hey."

"How you doing?" She asked, stepping fully into the room.

"Kay." He replied.

"Matthew." She gave him a look of disbelief.

"Okay, I feel like crap. Better?" He asked.

"I'm so sorry, if there's anything you need me to do, then I'm here." She told him.

"I'll be okay..." He said quietly, looking down.

"I uh, I found this in my dressing room." She said, holding out his cell phone.

He stared at it for a moment, thinking about why he had been in there in the first place before reaching out and taking it.

"Thanks, I was wondering where it went." He said dropping it onto his desk. "Was there anything else?"

"Um, no..." She frowned slightly. "Uh, just... you know where I am if you need me."

"I think we'll be okay... Tom and Simon are working with the writers." He told her.

"I didn't mean..." She started before shaking her head slightly. "Okay... well, I'll guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Was his reply as he picked up some sheets of paper and started looking through them.

Harriet paused at the door and looked back at him but he still didn't look up. She sighed and decided to leave him to it.

A light flashing on his cell phone caught his eye; he flipped it open and saw he had a couple of messages. He pressed a few buttons and put the phone to his ear. He listened as he was told the message was left on Wednesday. He sighed, not really paying attention to the message until he heard Jess' voice. He felt his heart stop.

"_Matt... There's something wrong... I fell... and it hurts... I know there's something wrong... I need you, please ...I'm scared, Matt... call me...please...soon..."_

The phone slipped from his hand, breaking open when it hit the floor. He jumped when the door opened and the writers along with Tom and Simon walked in.

"Hey, we have a couple of things to show you." Andy told him, deciding to get right to work and avoid anyone saying anything, like Danny had asked.

"Okay." Matt stood up and walked around the desk. He hadn't actually heard what Andy had said and he didn't even really care.

He paced the office as Tom ran through one of the ideas they had. His head was starting to spin and his heart to race slightly. He kept hearing Jess' voice...He kept seeing her lying in the hospital afterwards.

"It's David and Victoria Beckham hosting their own live chat show in their new LA home." Tom explained, no one noticing the state that Matt was getting into.

Something Wrong...

"Victoria has to explain to David who the guest are and what they do... then he asks all these stupid questions... and Victoria tries to make it seem like he's joking...but that confuses him." Tom continued.

It hurts...

"Maybe he even forgets that they're doing the show and Victoria has to get him out of the bath... all he's wearing is a pink shower cap and a rubber ring."

I need you...

"They try and say it's the latest fashion style..."

He clenched his fists tightly together as he stopped pacing, glanced across the room at the others, who were stood watching him.

"We can keep working on it if you don't like it..." Tom said when Matt didn't say anything. There was still no answer and gestured to the clock, counting down to the next show. "We'll keep working on it, we got all week..."

Matt's eyes followed his hand, starting at the clock... the red digits standing out even brighter then normal. He hated that clock.

I'm scared...

"Matt, are you okay?" Andy asked but he still stared at the clock. Andy turned to look at Lucy. "Go find Danny."

He really hated that clock.

Call me...

Everyone watched him as he picked up the baseball bat that was leaning against the wall.

Please...

Before anyone had a chance to react, Matt suddenly swung the bat, smashing into the clock. He kept hitting it until; it shattered completely and fell from the wall.

Soon...

Everyone moved backwards out of the way as he threw the bat across the room, sending it into the drinks tray, breaking all of the glasses and bottles. Matt kicked the coffee table, knocking it and the contents on top of it over.

"Matt." Danny pushed passed everyone who stood in the doorway towards his friend.

"Leave me alone!"

"Stop." Danny grabbed his arm as he started to punch the wall.

"Leave me alone!" He said again but this time everyone could tell he was trying to hold onto his emotions.

"No, I'm not leaving you here to self destruct." Danny replied, grabbing both his arms and holding them behind his back so he couldn't move.

"She's not coming back..." Matt whispered, letting himself fall back against Danny, tears streaming down his face. "She's never going to come back."

"I know..." Danny replied. "I'm sorry."

"I should have been there..."

"Matt, don't start thinking like that..."

"She called me... she told me something was wrong... she needed me and I wasn't there." He somehow managed to release himself from Danny's grip and turn around to face him. "I promised I'd look after her..."

"Matt..."

"I let her down..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "She needed me and I let her down."

"Matt, it's not your fault..." Danny said softly, placing his hand on his friend's arm and was surprised when Matt pulled his arm away quickly.

"Don't." He told him, turning to walk to the door.

"Matt?" Danny went to grab his arm to stop him but he pushed him away again, causing Danny to stumble back slightly. He couldn't say or do anything as he watched Matt barge past the others to get out.

Matt rubbed his eyes hard with the back of his hand, brushing away the tears. He didn't have the right to cry.

"Matthew?"

He stopped and turned when he saw Harriet ahead of him.

"Matthew, where are you going?" She asked, following him.

"Just leave me alone." He told her.

"Matt..."

"What?" He spun around to look at her. "What do you want? You want to help? Well, leave me alone."

"Please, Matthew..."

"Are you happy?"

"What?"

"Are you happy now?" He asked. "You never wanted me and Jess together."

"I would never wish anything like this to happen..." She stuttered, shocked by what he was saying.

"I guess that was just an added bonus then..." He replied turning to walk away again. "I mean, you thought you could break us up by kissing me..."

"No..." She tried to cut in as she followed him but he kept talking.

"I was with you Harriet!" He raised his voice slightly. "I was with you when Jess was dying...when she needed me."

"I know but..." She tried to talk again, glancing around and was slightly relieved that no one was around.

"You got your wish..."

"What wish? What are you talking about?"

"Pay back for everything I did when we were together...every time I screwed up." He answered. "For Jeannie...for being jealous of Darren Wells..."

"I never wanted to get you back..."

"You were right when you said I was setting myself up to get hurt...I've never been in this much pain before...but I deserve it because it was my fault." He claimed. "It was my fault because I was with you."

"No, Matt..."

"From now on, just stay away from me." He muttered, walking off leaving Harriet stood staring after him, stunned.

XxXxX

Matt quietly let himself into Grace's room. This was the first time he had been here when he hadn't been forced by Danny. He sat down in one of the chairs, next to the incubator and the only sound that was in the room was the quiet beep of one of the machines.

He leaned forwards to get a closer look at her. She was so tiny and he could already tell she looked like Jess.

"I'm your Daddy..." He whispered, scared of waking her up. "But you deserve someone so much better then me... I promised your Mom that I'd look after her and I failed... I don't want to make the same mistake with you... And I know it sounds crazy but it's because I love you so much... So, I'm going to apologise now..."

Suddenly the beeping got louder and faster. Matt stood up, panicking as doctors and nurses ran into the room.

"What's going on?" He asked, watching as they surrounded Grace.

"Her heart has stopped." The doctor explained.

"No! Do something! Save her!" Matt exclaimed.

"Mr Albie, we'll have to ask you to leave whilst we do our jobs."

"Come on, Sir..." A nurse gently started to push him towards the door and all the time he was walking backwards out of the room, his eyes never left his daughter.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Here's the next part! Once again thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming!!! **

**Enjoy!!! **

**A Different Kind Of Love!! **

Matt had his head buried in his hands, trying to clear all his thoughts. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to make any of this better. All he wanted to do was run away. If he ran away then no one could ask him about it all... no one could remind him how much everything that happened was hurting him. He had lost Jess... just when he had found someone else to love other then Harriet, they were taken away from him. Now there was Grace. She was completely innocent in this yet Jess and her were both being punished because he was strong enough to stay away from temptation. He had kissed another woman... not any other woman but Harriet. This was all happening because of his betrayal... This was all happening because he didn't deserve Jess or Gracie.

"Mr Albie?"

He looked up when he heard his name and saw the doctor from before stood in front of him.

"You're daughters heart had stopped but fortunately we managed to re-start it again."

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked.

"Well, like I said before, she has a big fight on her hands... and this has complicated things a little more." He sighed. "I'm sorry but all we can do is just wait and pray that she's strong enough."

Matt's screwed his eyes shut tightly. He just wanted things to go back to normal.

"You can sit with her again, now." He told him.

"Thanks." Matt whispered.

"Is there anyone you'd like me to call"?

"Um, yeah...my friend... Danny... Danny Tripp." Matt replied, pulling out a card with the number for the studio on. "You should be able to get hold of him on this."

"Okay, I'll do it straight away." He assured him.

"Thanks." He said again, he waited until the doctor was out of sight before getting up and walking away from Grace's room and towards the exit. He couldn't do it... he couldn't sit around and wait for her to die.

XxXxX

Jordan paused in the doorway to Matt's office, looking at Danny trying to sort out the mess.

"I told you it was too soon for him to come back." She said, causing Danny to turn towards her.

"Please, don't start."

"What's happened?" She asked, stepping over some broken glass.

"I'm not sure... Tom was pitching him a sketch and he apparently lost it and started smashing things up." Danny sighed, rubbing his eyes. "He said something about Jess calling him to say something was wrong...maybe he's only just got the message."

"Where is he now?" Jordan asked, concerned.

"I don't know, he walked off."

"You didn't go after him?" She said, surprised.

"I couldn't..."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know how to make things better." He looked up at her. "I don't know what to do."

"Danny, I don't think anyone in this situation does." She told him softly. "You've already done so much for him already...even before all of this..."

"No, no..." Danny shook his head. "I know it might seem like that but Matt's helped me so much with everything I've been through... for so long he was strong for the both of us... that's what matters... not the little everyday stuff... he saved me from myself and now I need to do the same for him but I don't know how."

Jordan reached out and gently placed a hand on his arm. "Well, let me help you."

Danny looked at her for a moment but before he could reply Suzanne put her head around the door.

"There's a Dr Johnston on the phone."

"Okay, thanks." He replied, glancing at Jordan as he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

Jordan listened to Danny's side of the conversation, there was obviously something going on that wasn't good.

"I've got to get to the hospital..." Danny told her as he put down the phone and headed for the door.

"What is it?" She followed him. "What's happened"?

"Grace's heart stopped..."

"What? Is she okay?" She asked.

Danny shrugged, still walking. "She still alive... but I need to get down there...Matt's already with her."

"I'm coming with you..."

"No, you don't have too..."

"Danny, let me help!" She insisted causing him to stop and look at her.

"Okay." He nodded after a few seconds. He took her hand in his. "Come on."

XxXxX

Matt stared down into his glass as he gently swirled the vodka around inside. Once he left the hospital he walked and walked until he found himself stood outside a bar. He didn't know where he was and he didn't really care. He was glad that the bar was almost empty and that the people who were there didn't seem to recognise him.

"Bit early isn't it?"

He turned to look at the man who was sat next to him. "What?"

"Vodka. It's only 2pm..." He stated.

"Look around... we're in a bar." Matt replied, turning back to the face the other way, downing the clear liquid in one mouthful before ordering another one.

"Bad day?" The guy asked, obviously not put off by Matt's comment.

"Yeah, something like that." Matt let out a bitter laugh, handing over some money to the bartender.

"I bet it's not as bad as you think..."

"My girlfriend died."

"Oh..." He replied. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Matt answered; he was getting sick of hearing that.

"How?"

Matt glanced at him again. "During giving birth."

"Well...I know it's doesn't stop it from hurting but at least you have your child... you have someone to keep you going."

"No, I haven't..." Matt whispered, downing his second vodka.

"What?"

"She was 12 weeks early." He explained.

"She died too?" He asked.

Matt stood up; he really didn't feel like having this conversation.

"Listen, you're right...its too early to be drinking so I'll see you later."

"I'm sorry, I asked too many questions...you don't have to go... I won't say any more."

"No, it's okay..." Matt shook his head and headed for the door.

The guy watched as Matt left the bar before pulling out his cell phone.

"Yes, can you put me through to the editor please... Thank you." He said. "Sir, you're never going to believe it. I've just seen Matt Albie in a bar... His girlfriend went into labour early and both Mother and baby have died... yes, Sir...seriously... he told me himself."

XxXxX

Danny sighed and looked across at Jordan. "You should go home and rest."

"I'm fine." She told him before leaning over the incubator and smiled down at Gracie. "She's so beautiful."

"Yeah... she's so little as well..." Danny sighed. "It shouldn't be like this."

"I know." She sat back down. "You really think Matt's going to come back here tonight?"

"Well, he was with her when she had the attack...maybe its freaked him a little but he'll be back to check on her." He claimed. "I'm going to stay with her until he does."

"Okay."

"But you should go." He said again.

"Danny..."

"Please, just go home and get some sleep...I'll be there as soon as Matt turns up."

"Okay, fine." She reluctantly agreed. "But call me if anything happens."

"I will." He smiled, kissing her softly.

"Bye then." She said, as she reached the door.

"Bye."

Danny sat back down and when he heard the door open 10 minutes later, he was expecting it to be Matt but it was Jordan.

"Did you forget something?" He asked.

"No, when I turned my Cell on when I got out side, there was a message from the studio."

"Is everything okay?"

"The press know about all of this... apparently Matt's been at a bar this afternoon and he told a journalist what's happened." She explained. "We have every newspaper, every magazine, news reporters...they're all outside the studio, they calling Matt's agent and even yours..."

"This is all we need." Danny sighed. "But I guess it was bound to come out sometime."

"That's not all..."

"What?"

"Matt told this journalist that both Jess and Gracie had died."

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!!! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys here's the next part! Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming!! **

**Different Kind Of Love**

"No, he wouldn't have done." Danny claimed. "The reporter most have gotten it wrong."

"Well, whatever he said everyone wants to know what's going on." Jordan replied. "They want to know why it happened... they want to know if the show will be put on hold."

"Arg, this can't be happening." Danny rubbed his eyes with one of his hands. "Okay, what have they been told?"

"Nothing, yet... all the studio has said so far is 'no comment' but I got Jack Rudolph on my back about getting someone to do a press conference."

"Yeah, maybe that's a good idea... we can make one statement and say we're saying no more."

"Okay, if you think that's for the best." She nodded in agreement. "I guess I can go and do it."

"No... No it should be me."

"What?"

"It should be me doing it." He repeated. "I owe it to Matt."

"Okay, when do you want me to set it up?" She asked.

"Um, I don't know... I don't want to leave Grace on her own until Matt's back..." He glanced down at the baby.

"I can stay with her."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." She shrugged. "And it's not exactly going to be hard work, I'll be just sitting here."

"I guess...If you're sure..."

"Yes, I'm sure...and as soon as Matt gets back, I'll give you call."

"Thank you."

"No worries...I'm here to help."

He smiled slightly and pressed his lips gently against hers.

"What was that for?" She asked, smiling once he had pulled away.

"Do I need a reason?"

"No."

"Okay." He nodded, smiling. "I'd better get going."

"I'll call Jack and let him know so it can be all set up for when you get there."

"Thanks." He said, leaning down towards Gracie. "Okay, little one... I'll be back soon to see you...you be good."

XxXxX

"So, where is Matt?" Jack asked Danny, as he waited to go and talk to the press.

"I don't know."

"He can't go around talking to reporters like that..."

"Okay, Jack back off..." Danny told him.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry but I've hardly had any sleep for the last couple of days. My best friend's world has been turned upside down and a young woman, who I had become friends with, died... So don't start with all the 'correct way of handling thing' bullshit." Danny stated as he was introduced.

Jack watched him walk out towards the press, slightly stunned.

"Okay, firstly I'd like to say that this is your only chance to hear us talk about this..." Danny started. "And I know you all want to know what has happened but can you please remember a woman has died and I ask you to show some respect and sympathy towards her friends and family."

"Is it true the baby died as well?" A reporter shouted out.

"No, no that's incorrect..." Danny answered, which made them all start shouting out questions, causing him to shout over them to be heard. "At the moment she's in a critical but stable condition."

"Does she have a name?"

"Gracie May Albie."

"Where is Matt now?"

"That's not important." Danny refused to answer the question, quickly pointing to someone else to move on.

"Is the show going to be put on hold?"

"No… there is no need to do so at the moment."

"Why did Matt say the baby had died"?

"I haven't had chance to talk to him about that yet but I'm sure it was a misunderstanding." Danny replied. "Okay, that's it... time is up. Thank you all for coming."

Danny walked away, ignoring them all as they shouted out his name and more questions. He checked his phone, hoping there'd be message from Matt or Jordan but there was none. He sighed and tried to call Matt's cell again but there was still no answer.

"Matt, I don't know where you are but call me as soon as you get this!"

XxXxX

The next morning, Danny walked out of the hospital. He had stayed there all night, hoping Matt would turn up but he never did. Now Danny had to go home and get showered quickly and then head to the studio. Jordan had said she would go and visit Gracie later as she was now on maternity leave and was going crazy just sitting at home. When his phone started to ring, he was relieved to see Matt's name flash up on the callers ID.

"Matt, where the hell have you been"? Danny answered the call.

"Out... I just needed time to think."

"Everyone knows, Matt... apparently you were talking to some reporter in a bar."

"I didn't know who he was..."

"You told him Gracie was dead"?

"No, I didn't... I said she was early and he just assumed."

"And you didn't correct him?"

"No, I didn't know what I was doing, okay?" He told him. "I had just left the hospital and had been drinking... I just needed to clear my head."

Danny sighed. "You should have come to talk to me."

There was a silence on the phone before Matt spoke again. "How is she doing?"

"Why don't you come down and find out for yourself."

"I can't."

"Of course you can... its you're daughter."

"No, I can't...I promised Tom I'd help with his Beckham sketch."

"Matt, forget about work!"

"Please, I just need time... I need to get my head around it all... Just let me work for a bit."

"And you think that is going to help?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

"Okay fine..." He reluctantly agreed. "I'm just going to go home and get a shower then I'll see you at the studio."

"Okay."

"Matt..." Danny said before he had chance to hung up. "The doctor said she's improved a little over night... she's getting stronger."

Once again there was silence.

"Okay." Was all Matt said before the line went dead.

XxXxX

6 Weeks Later

"Danny..." Jordan shook him gently. When he hadn't come home last night, she knew she'd find him at the hospital with Grace.

"What?" He woke up, looking around confused.

"I thought you'd be here." She said, sitting in the chair next to his, placing the pram between them.

"I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep." He rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sure..." She shrugged.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"Jordan."

"I'm just worried about you, okay..." She told him. "You're doing too much."

"I'm fine."

"Danny, if you're not working or spending time with me and Nicky then you're here."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll find some more time to be with you guys."

"No, Danny I'm not saying that... you're doing plenty with us." Jordan assured him. "But if you carry on like this you're going to burn out."

Danny looked into the pram at the baby that was sleeping. Nicolas Daniel McDeere was born 8 days ago. Even though everyday Gracie was improving and she now didn't need any machines to help her breath, Matt still hadn't come around. Danny would occasionally manage to drag him down to the hospital but all he did was sit in the corner quietly.

"Yeah, you're right." He agreed.

"Matt needs some help... he hasn't bonded with her."

"I know." Danny sighed. "I tried but I can't get through to him."

"Isn't there anyone else he could talk to?" Jordan asked. "What about Harriet?"

"No, something has happened between them... They're avoiding each other."

"Why?"

"I don't know, they won't tell me." He replied.

"Good morning, Mr Tripp." The doctor walked into the room. "No, Mr Albie today?"

"Uh, no... He went home to get some sleep." Danny covered. Although Matt hadn't bonded with Grace nor did he spend a lot of time at the hospital, he had been there most of the time when the doctor checked up on Grace.

"Well, okay I guess since the amount of time you spend here yourself I can tell you and you can pass the information onto him."

"What information?" Danny asked concerned.

"She's strong enough to go home." The doctor smiled.

"What?"

"She can go home tomorrow." He told him again. "Although, she will need to come back for check ups, just to make sure everything is going okay."

"That's great news." Jordan claimed.

"Yes it is..." He replied. "I've got to get on with my rounds so I'll leave you to it."

"It is great news isn't it?" Jordan asked Danny, realising he wasn't excited as he should be.

"Well, yeah of course it is."

"But?"

"But where is she going to go?" He asked. "I don't know if Matt can deal with this."

"Maybe this is what he needs...maybe being alone with her at home will get him to bond with her."

"I hope you're right."

XxXxX

Danny headed up to Matt's office. They had just finished the dress rehearsal and it was time for the Friday night slaughter. He was starting to become even more concerned about Matt by the way he reacted to the news about Gracie being able to go home. He didn't say anything, instead he just started walking towards the door, telling him that he need to talk to Andy about something as if he hadn't heard a word Danny had said.

Danny opened the door to the office and even before he stepped into the room, there was a strong smell of alcohol.

"Matt, what are you doing?" Danny asked, seeing him lying on the couch with a glass of vodka in his hand.

"I'm having a drink." He mumbled.

Danny picked up an empty bottle of vodka that had been full an hour ago.

"Matt, its Friday night and you're hammered!" Danny slammed the door shut causing Matt to jump. "What the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm not! I'm not thinking!! That's why I'm doing it!" Matt raised his voice slightly,

Danny ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of away out of this without anyone else finding out.

"You stay here... I'm going to do the slaughter in my office with Cal then I'll be back." Danny told him.

"Whatever." Matt mumbled, swallowing more of the vodka.

Danny looked at him as he picked up the board. "Don't drink any more."

Matt didn't reply but Danny was glad to see him putting the glass down on the floor.

"Hey, what's going on?" Cal asked, as Danny left the office with the board.

"We're doing the slaughter in my office." He told him.

"Why?" Cal questioned, glancing over Danny shoulder to see into Matt's office. "What's going on?"

Danny sighed. "Okay but you can't say anything."

"Sure."

"He's drunk."

"What?"

"Yeah, he'll be no good doing the slaughter with us." Danny told him. "So we're going to do it then afterwards I'll sort him out."

"Okay..."

"But don't say a word to anyone... I don't want this getting out."

"No problem."

They somehow managed to decide on what to keep and what to get rid off by themselves. Danny had asked Cal to try and make sure no one disturbed him and Matt. Cal didn't normally like to keep things as important as this from everyone but he didn't mind doing it for Matt or Danny and Matt obviously needed some help.

Danny walked into Matt's office again and saw his friend was now stood on the balcony looking out over the studio.

"Matt..." Danny said quietly, standing in the doorway.

"I know I've screwed up." Matt didn't turn to face him. "It won't happen again."

"It's not just about tonight." Danny told him. "Come on, let's sit down."

"Danny..."

"Matt, I'm not asking...I'm telling."

He turned to look at his friend before sighing in defeat and walking back inside the office.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"No, I'm not accepting that any more." Danny told him. "I've been patient... I've done all I can but you need to help yourself now."

Matt didn't say anything; he just looked down at his hands silently.

"What is it, Matt?" Danny asked. "Talk to me, tell me what's going on."

"You won't understand." He whispered.

"Try me."

"I wasn't there when she needed me."

"There's is no way you could have known this was going to happen..."

"She called my cell...she left a message asking for help!" Matt shot to his feet.

"The doctors said that there was nothing anyone could have done..."

"You don't get it!" He shouted.

"So, tell me!" Danny shouted back. "Because I'm getting sick of guessing what's going with you!"

"I was with someone else!" Matt yelled.

Danny fell silent, staring at his friend. "What?"

"I was with another woman whilst Jess needed me..." Matt told him, lowering his voice as tears started to slowly fall from his eyes.

"Who was it?"

"What?"

"The other woman, who was it?"

"Does it matter?"

"It was Harriet, wasn't it?"

Matt closed his eyes, more tears falling as he silently nodded.

"Oh Matt..." Danny sighed.

"I told Jess that I'd be there for her but I let her down." Matt started. "I promised that there was nothing between me and Harriet any more."

Danny took his arm and pulled him back over to the couch, both of them sitting down and Matt buried his head in his hands.

"How long was it going on for?" Danny asked, quietly.

"Just the once, in her dressing room." Matt admitted. "One minute I was helping her with one of the sketches, the next we were kissing."

"Then what?"

"Then I left... I must have dropped my phone because when Harriet gave it back to me there were the messages on my phone."

"Matt, everyone makes mistakes… Jess would understand."

"She shouldn't have too." He claimed. "I let her down."

"No."

"And all this is happening because of me... because I wasn't strong enough to stay away from Harriet."

"You think Jess died as some kind of punishment to you?"

"She should have been with someone better then me." He cried quietly.

"Matt, she was with you because she loved you."

Matt shook his head slightly. "I didn't deserve her."

Danny put his arms around Matt as he cried.

"You should have told me." Danny whispered. "I want to help... you need to let me."

"I did love her, Dan... I love her so much..." He claimed. "And I miss her... I wish I was dead too."

Danny closed his eyes; he just wished he knew what to do.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, guys! Here's the next part!! Please review and let me know what you think!!!**

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

Danny only left Matt's office once he had fallen asleep, caused by a mixture of exhaustion from the last few days and the alcohol. He glanced at his watch seeing that there was only 40 minutes until the show aired. He was slowly running out of ideas on how to help Matt. Every time he thought that he was making some kind of improvement, something else always happened. He hated how much his friend was hurting and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was the one that always looked after Matt, no matter what it was. Whether it was when he was working too hard and needed to just go home and get some rest or by standing by him when they worked here before and Matt was fired.

He walked into the NBS box, smiling when he saw Jordan sat holding Nicky.

"Hey." He said, walking over and sitting next to her, stretching out his finger to Nicky and putting his other arm on the back of the couch.

"Hey." She smiled at him.

"How did you like the show?" He asked but his eyes not leaving the baby, who had grabbed hold of his finger.

"It was funny." She replied.

"Good."

She watched him for a moment before speaking again. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" He looked up at her.

"I saw you going into your office to do the slaughter with Cal."

"Um, yeah...so?"

"Where was Matt?"

"Jordan, you said you were only coming down here to watch." He sighed. "Don't worry about the show..."

"I'm not worrying about the show." She assured him. "I'm worrying about Matt."

"He's fine."

"Danny!" She gave him a look. "Why wasn't he at the slaughter?"

"Trust me, okay."

"I do trust you." She replied. "But I want to know."

"Why?"

"Because in case you haven't noticed, he's your best friend and since we've gotten together I have got to know him too." She stated. "He's like family to you, so that makes him family to me too."

Danny was surprised by what she said but was happy she felt like that.

"So, are you going to tell me?"

"He was drunk."

"So? He had a few drinks..." She shrugged. "Its not that much of a big deal considering everything that has happened."

"This wasn't a few drinks... this was a whole bottle of vodka in a little under an hour." Danny sighed, rubbing his eyes. "He's really messed up."

"Maybe... maybe he should talk to someone." Jordan suggested.

"He won't."

"Why not?"

"Because he hates talking about his feelings." Danny replied. "It won't work. I know it won't."

"Well, he needs to do something."

"I know..."

"Maybe a few weeks of being with Gracie will help."

"I don't know." Danny replied. "Gracie isn't really the problem. He's missing Jess."

"I know but surely with Gracie being around it will help remind him of her."

"I think that's why he doesn't want to bond with her."

"What?"

"He's blaming himself... he think this has all happened because of what he's done."

"What has he done?"

"He kissed Harriet."

"What? When?"

"The day Jess was taken into hospital."

"And it was just a kiss?"

"Yeah but Jess had called him when he was with Harriet to tell him something didn't feel right." Danny explained. "He thinks he should have been there for her."

"That would explain him and Harriet avoiding each other."

"Yeah, I can't believe she never told me about this!"

"It wouldn't have really helped much if she had of done."

"Yes it would have... I could have made him understand that it wasn't his fault." Danny answered. "I could have helped him through this."

"You can still do that."

"But Gracie is coming home tomorrow...and I don't think he can cope with her... not yet."

"Oh." Jordan replied, not thinking of that.

"I don't know what to do." He whispered, looking at her.

In the time that she had known him she had never seen him look so lost before.

"We'll look after them."

"What?"

"They can move into our place for a while...until Matt's ready to do it on his own."

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yeah... But I won't be looking after two babies... and you got to remember Matt's her Dad...he's got to take care of Grace." She told him. "We'll just be there to make sure he's okay and if he needs us to help."

"Why are you doing this?" He asked curiously.

"Because I love you...and you love them... And so I do." Jordan smiled slightly.

"You're amazing." He whispered, pressing his lips against hers.

"I know that." She replied, causing him to laugh slightly. "Hey, there's 20 minute till we go on air... shouldn't you be working?"

"Nah, its okay...I'm on good terms with the boss."

She rolled her eyes at him but smiled when he leaned down and kissed the top of Nicky's head.

"Right, I'm going." He stood up. "I'll see you later."

"You will." She grinned at him again as he left.

_XxXxX_

"Harriet, can I talk to you?" Danny asked, walking over to her as she stood waiting with Tom and Simon to start the show.

"Yeah, what about?"

"Matt."

She sighed. "Danny, we're on in 5 minutes, can't it wait?"

"No." He took hold of her arm gently and led her away from everyone.

Tom looked over at Simon questionably to see if he knew what was going on but he just shrugged, just as confused as he was.

"Why didn't you tell me what happened between you two?" Danny asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!" Danny hissed. "You kissed him!"

"Oh, so he told you about that?" She hung her head slightly.

"Yes! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because its between me and Matthew..." She started.

"Cut the crap! You've seen the state he's been in!" He exclaimed. "He thinks he's being punished... he thinks Jess is dead because of what happened."

"That's crazy... it was just a kiss."

"Well, he's in a crazy place right now." He replied. "Why the hell did you kiss him? You said you were going to back off!"

"It wasn't like that!" She exclaimed. "It wasn't as if I planned it! It just happened! One minute were talking, the next we were kissing!"

Danny sighed and ran his hands over his eyes. "I'm sorry for shouting but you should have told me."

"I know." She whispered. "He is... he is going to be okay, isn't he?"

"I don't know..." Danny replied. "But he needs his friends... I know that he's probably said some stuff to you but you know he doesn't mean it, right?"

"Yeah..." She nodded. "I was going to talk to him about it but I thought I should wait until everything had calm down."

"Good."

"Danny, you do realise that you can't do all this on your own."

"There's no one else..." He answered.

"I'll try talking to him after the show." She told him.

"You can't."

"Why?"

"Because he's asleep."

"It's Friday night."

"It's not a problem, he hasn't been sleeping a lot lately and he had a few drinks earlier..." He told her. "He's just fallen asleep."

"You mean, he's passed out." She corrected.

"Don't let it get out." Danny told her. "I'm dealing with it."

"Danny, you can't... not on your own." She stated.

"It's fine, listen you need to get going...the show is starting."

"Okay but please...please get some help." She told him as she walked towards the stage.

Danny sighed, knowing she was right but he couldn't give up...not yet.

_XxXxX_

The next day, Danny stood on the balcony that looked out over the stage. He had been stood there, watching as people crowded around baby Gracie. Matt had gone to pick her up from the hospital that morning and Danny assumed he'd go home but he didn't, he brought her into work with him. Now, he was sat with Andy and Darius whilst Lucy, Jeannie, Suzanne and Sam were playing with Grace.

When he had asked Matt to come and stay with him and Jordan, he thought he'd be grateful but he wasn't really bothered and just shrugged. He saw Jeannie starting to make up a bottle and then handed it to Lucy who was holding Grace and started to feed her.

Danny walked towards the stairs, this wasn't right. It should be Matt feeding her. He was her father... he hadn't even held her yet.

"Aw, man... why do women go all gaa gaa over babies?" Simon asked as he walked in with Harriet and Tom.

"Shut up." Jeannie glared at him.

"You want to hold her?" Lucy asked, Harriet.

"Um ..." Harriet looked over to Matt to see what his reaction was but he hadn't even stopped typing and the next thing she knew, Grace was in her arms. She looked down at her. She was so beautiful...She could see a lot of Jess in her but she could also see Matt. She defiantly had his eyes.

She was surprised when Danny appeared in front of her and took Grace off her. They all watched as he walked over to stand in front of Matt.

"She needs feeding." Danny told him.

"Lucy said she'd do it..." Not looking up from his laptop.

"No, you should be doing it."

"I'm working." He mumbled.

"No, you're not... from now on you're on leave." He told him.

"What?" He looked up.

"You're on leave." Danny repeated. "Take Grace home and be a father!"

"You can't make me go on leave."

"Matt."

"I'm sick of this." Matt stood up. "I'm sick of people telling me what to do...and how to feel."

"Don't you understand?" Danny asked. "You're a father now. Grace needs you."

"No, you don't understand! I don't want to be a father! I never have! You forcing _it _on me, isn't working!"

"Well, tough because you are! And she is already here! She didn't ask for this!"

"Neither did I!" He shouted. "I only stuck around to do the right thing! I only agreed to keep it because it was what Jess wanted!! And I loved her! She was what I wanted!! But now she's gone!!"

Everyone fell silent and the only sound was Grace's cries.

"And she's not coming back." Matt lowered his voice slightly and then gestured to Grace. "Every time I look at that I remember why she's not here."

They all watched stunned as Matt headed through the door before turning back to look at Danny.

"Shh... Its okay..." Danny whispered, bouncing Grace gently, holding her closely to him. Maybe he really did need help now.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, thanks for the reviews! Here's the next part!! **

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

Danny was sat in Matt's office, just waiting. Once Matt had walked out of the studio, no one spoke, all of them stunned by his outburst. Danny had left Gracie with Harriet, whilst he got his head around everything. He needed to work out what to do next. He decided to try and talk to Matt again, hope he could get through to him and then after that he was out of ideas. So here he was, waiting. He had been waiting for almost 2 hours and Matt still hadn't come back. He hadn't even called.

"Hey." Jordan said quietly.

"Hi." Danny sat up properly. "Where's Nicky?"

"Downstairs with the girls." She sat down on the couch next to him. "They told me what happened with Matt."

"He was just letting off steam... he didn't mean it."

"How do you know that?" Jordan asked. "I mean, it would explain the way he's been acting."

"Because I saw how much he was looking forwards to this." Danny claimed. "I was the first person he told and even though he was scared... he was excited about it too...Even you must have noticed a difference in him after he found out she was pregnant."

"Yeah, I guess." She agreed. "But what are you going to do next?"

"I don't know." He whispered, resting his head on his hands, looking downwards.

"Maybe he should see a doctor or something." She suggested. "They might be able to give him something to help him cope."

He looked up at her and the first time, since she had known him she saw tears lining his eyes.

"How did I let it get this far?" He asked.

"You did all you could." She assured him. "But you can't handle this on your own... no one can."

"What am I going to do?" He questioned. "I don't even know where he is... and Gracie is downstairs. She hasn't got a clue what's going on around her. She doesn't know that her Mom is dead… She doesn't even know her father is losing it..."

"It'll be okay..." She squeezed his hand gently.

"He hasn't even held her, did you know that?" He continued. "Whenever we went down to the hospital, he'd sit as far away as he could get and not say or do anything. For all she knows, I'm her father."

"Things have gotten a little bad but Matt's lost someone he loved and he needs time to get over that." Jordan stated. "We just need to give him time."

"And what's going to happen to Gracie whilst we're giving him that time?" Danny asked. "How can he be so selfish?"

"Danny..."

"No, I've done everything I can for him and he won't listen..." He cut her off standing up. "Why won't he let me help?"

"Hey, calm down..." She said softly, getting up too and standing in front of him. "He'll come to you when he's ready... he always does."

"What about Gracie?" He asked. "She needs him now."

"I know but she's got us." She claimed.

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Okay, we're going home..." She told him.

"I can't..."

"Yes you can... you can't wait around here all night hoping Matt will turn up." She replied. "We're going home and you're going to rest. You've been doing too much lately."

"What if he does something stupid?" Danny asked quietly.

"He won't." Jordan claimed. "Why don't you call him on his cell?"

"I tried it goes straight to answer phone."

"Well, leave a message... telling him that we're taking Gracie home with us and we'll look after her... tell him that we're here for him when he needs us."

"You think that will work?" He asked.

"I don't know but there's not a lot else we can do."

Danny sighed and got his phone out, dialling Matt's number.

_XxXxX_

Matt's head was pounding and felt like he was going to throw up any minute but he still went into work. At least if he was working, he wasn't thinking about what was going on.

He was surprised when he walked into his office to see Andy stood there.

"What you doing in here?" He asked, walking past him towards his desk.

"I was waiting for you." Andy told him.

"You got a sketch?"

"No."

"Okay, then what?"

"I think I'm going to have to quit."

"What?" Matt turned to look at him. "You can't!"

"Yes I can." Andy told him.

"Why do you want to quit?"

"When I agreed to stay it was because I was working for you and I had a lot of respect for you."

"Had?" Matt questioned.

"How can you not love that little baby?"

"Y'know what? If you want to leave then go ahead but I'm not talking about this with you." Matt claimed, sitting down.

"We all understand that your grieving but that doesn't mean you can act like a jackass!"

"Excuse me?"

"You're acting as if you're the only one who's ever lost someone." Andy claimed. "But if you look around, everyone is missing someone."

"I don't think that any of this..."

"Look at me... when my wife and daughter died... I didn't think I'd ever be able to get through it but I'm back here doing a job I love." Andy continued. "And I know that they both would be proud of me."

Matt just looked at him, listening to what he had to say.

"You have a daughter, Matt... Someone who is always going to love you...someone you'll always love... Mine were taken away from me... and there are so many people out in the world that can't have kids... we all have no say in the matter... but you do... you have a choice."

There was silence in the room; Matt didn't know what to say until Andy turned to walk towards the door.

"Andy?"

He stopped and looked back at him.

"I don't want you to quit." He stated. "We need you here."

Andy looked at him for a moment before nodding slightly. "Okay."

"And Andy?" Matt said again before he had a chance to leave. "Thank you."

"No problem."

_XxXxX_

"Can we talk?" Matt asked, stopping in the doorway to Danny's office.

"Yeah, of course...come in." Danny told him. He watched as his friend walked in, closing the door before sitting down. "Where were you last night?"

"At my house... I just needed to clear my head." He told him.

"And did you?"

"Sort of." Matt nodded. "I want my life back."

"And how does Gracie fit into that?"

"She doesn't...not really." He shrugged slightly.

"How the hell can you say that?" Danny asked, raising his voice slightly.

"Because its the truth..." Matt claimed. "It's better for us both if I give her away."

Danny's mouth fell open slightly; even after everything he wasn't expecting that. "Give her away?"

"Yeah, to a proper family."

"How did you come up with this solution?"

"I was talking to Andy... he made me realise that there are so many people out there that would love a child..."

"Andy suggested you should do this?"

"No but it makes sense." Matt replied.

"Get out."

"What?"

"I said get out!"

"Danny?!"

"I don't want to look at you right, now." He stated. "You're not the same guy I've been best friends with for years!"

"What are you talking about?"

"How can you give her away? You haven't even held her...you haven't even looked at her properly." Danny shouted. "If you had, you'd see that she has your eyes...you would be able to see yourself in her... and you'd see how beautiful she is."

"I knew you wouldn't understand..." Matt stood up.

"No, I don't understand! I don't understand any of this! I don't understand you!"

"Whatever! I'll be in my office, writing."

"She has a hospital appointment at 12."

"What?"

"Gracie has an appointment at 12... She's still your responsibility so you need to take her."

"Fine...where is she?" He asked.

"Downstairs with Harriet."

"Fine."

"I'm coming with you." Danny told him.

"Don't you trust me or something?" Matt looked back at him.

"No, not really, not any more" Danny replied. "But I'm going because I want to know if she's okay."

Matt paused slightly. "Why wouldn't she be okay?"

"In case you've forgotten, she was born 12 weeks early."

Matt shook his head and opened the door. "I'll see you later."

Once Matt had left the office, Danny threw his cell phone cross the room in anger.

**TBC**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, here's the next part! Thanks for the reviews!! Please keep them coming!! **

**Enjoy!!! **

**A Different Kind Of Love**

"You'll regret it." Danny stated, breaking the silence as Matt and him sat side by side at the doctor's office waiting to be seen.

Matt sighed, not moving his eyes away from the wall in front of them. "It's for the best."

"How can you say that?" Danny questioned. "She's your flesh and blood."

"I'm not having this conversation again..."

"We haven't had this conversation before!" Danny exclaimed, causing a few people to look over at them before he lowered his voice. "Every time someone tries to talk to you, you change the subject or run off!"

"Grace Albie?" The doctor called out.

Matt glanced at Danny for the first since they got there before standing up and following the doctor, pushing Gracie in the pram; Danny right behind him.

"So, how has she been?" The doctor asked, once Danny had closed the door behind him.

"Uh, she's been okay." Matt replied, glancing at Danny for agreement because he couldn't actually confirm it himself.

"No problems?" He asked.

"No." Danny answered, when Matt looked at him again.

"Good... I'll just run a few small tests just to make sure everything is okay." The doctor explained, lifting Grace out of the pram.

Danny kept watching Matt whilst the doctor examined her. Matt just stood back silently, looking ahead at the wall.

"Mmm..." The doctor said frowning slightly.

"What is it?" Matt asked, stepping forwards to be side by side with Danny.

"Nothing to be to concerned with at the moment." The doctor replied. "Her temperature is a little high."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure, it could be nothing more then a small infection." The doctor claimed. "Don't worry just yet."

"But it could be something serious?" He questioned.

"Well, yes, sometimes when a baby arrives early there are a few complications." The doctor picked up a folder looking through it. "I don't seem to have all her notes here... I must have left them in my office. I'll be right back."

Danny looked across at Matt who was now staring down at Gracie.

"I'm going to call the studio...let them know we might be a bit longer then planned." Danny told him.

Matt didn't say anything in reply, so Danny just turned and headed for the door. He pretended to close the door but left it open a little so he could see into the room. He hated that he had to spy on Matt to find out what was going on with him. As he predicted, it wasn't long before Matt moved right to Gracie's side, stroking her cheek gently with his finger before he started to talk to her.

"I know I've been a really bad father but its what's best...for the both of us... I really hope you understand when you're older." He whispered. "I want you to have everything that I can't give you. A big loving family...people that you can always count on...and I don't mean that I don't love you...I do but I'd let you down... whether its today, next week, next year or 20 years from now..."

He paused for a moment, wishing he could had the courage to pick her up and hold her close to him but he was afraid that if he did, he'd fall in love with her even more and wouldn't be able to let her go.

"Everyone thinks I've gone crazy...maybe I have a little but they don't understand how hard this is..." He continued. "They don't understand that every time I have something good going on in my life its taken away from me... they don't understand that I need to let you go before you're taken from me too... I don't want you to suffer like I have... you won't even remember any this...I hope one day you'll understand..."

When Danny saw the doctor walking towards him, he opened the door and walked in.

When Matt heard the door, he jumped backwards, stepping away from Gracie.

"Hey." Danny said, pretending not to notice him move away or the fact that he had been crying.

"Okay, I'm sorry about that..." The doctor said. "Lets get on with this."

XxXxX

On the drive back to the studio, Matt sat silently in the passenger seat, deep in thought. He was so happy that the reason Grace had a temperature was because of the start of an ear infection. He noticed that Danny kept looking at him every now and then. Danny had probably noticed how worried Matt had gotten and was thinking he'd change his mind about giving Grace away. Although every second he doubted himself and tried to talk himself out of it, it always came back to the same thing; He had to let her go before they both ended up getting hurt. He couldn't do that to her.

"Were you serious?" Danny asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Matt looked over at him.

"Were you serious? About giving Gracie away."

"Yeah." Matt nodded, replying quietly.

Danny hated this...he knew Matt would be a great father and would love every second of it but he just needed to get over his fear of getting hurt again like he did when he lost Jessica. All he needed was time and if he gave Grace away then he'd regret it and won't be able to get her back.

"Let me look after her." Danny said, he had tried talking to him but it wasn't working. At least this way when Matt was ready to be a Dad, he would be able too.

"You?"

"Yeah, I've been with her everyday since she was born. I love her." He stated. "I want to be a part of her life."

"You're serious?"

"Yes!"

"Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure..." Matt nodded. "At least, she'll have someone to love her."

"She will." Danny nodded. "I promise."

"I know." Matt agreed.

XxXxX

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Danny asked when he saw Jordan walking into the studio.

"I had a meeting with Jack Rudolph about setting a date for me to return to work but his secretary said he had to come over here to talk to Matt about something." She explained.

Danny frowned and looked up towards Matt's office but couldn't see anyone.

"I didn't know Jack was here." He stated, looking at Harriet, Tom and Simon. "Do any of you know what's going on?"

"No, not a clue." Simon shrugged and the other two shook their heads.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Jordan told him.

"I'm not." Danny replied. "Oh, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What?"

"You should know that I..." He trailed off and looked behind him again to see the others stood closely, listening to them. "Do you mind?"

"Sorry..." They all said, stepping back and started to rehearse again.

He rolled his eyes and turned back to Jordan. "Okay, I've sort of agreed to look after Gracie."

"Well, you're doing that already..." Jordan said slowly.

"No, I mean permanently."

"What?" She exclaimed causing everyone to look at them again.

"Don't freak out." He told her.

"You're not her father...Matt is!"

"I know but he's going to give her away and then he'll regret it...I know he will." Danny explained. "At least this way, when he's had time to get over Jess and to realise he wants to be a Dad then he can...She won't be with some strangers."

"How do you know he'll come around?" She questioned.

"Because he loves her."

"But he's saying he doesn't care about her." She reminded him. "What if he's being honest?"

"Today at the doctors, he freaked out and then when he thought he was alone, I heard him talking to her." Danny explained. "He just needs time, Jordan... trust me."

"I hope you're right."

"I am... we spend so much time together...we see each everyday... so he won't be able to avoid her and he's realise that being a father to her is what's best for them both."

"Okay fine." She sighed.

Just then Jack left Matt's office and walked down the stairs.

"What were you doing talking to Matt?" Danny questioned.

"You'll have to ask him that." Jack replied before looking at Jordan. "I'm sorry, I don't think I'll have time for our meeting now. Can we do it another time?"

"Sure." Jordan nodded.

"What do you think is going on?" Harriet asked Danny once Jack had gone.

"I don't know." Danny said slowly then saw Matt leaving the office. "Lets find out."

"Hey..." Matt said walking towards him. "Sim, I got a re-write for the news..."

"Why were you talking to Jack Rudolph?" Danny asked.

Matt glanced at him. "I'll tell you later."

"Why later? Why not now?"

"Danny."

"What's going on, Matt?" He questioned again. "What were you talking to Jack about?"

Matt sighed. "I told him that at the end of the season, I want my contract to be terminated."

"What?!" Danny exclaimed.

"I'm going to do that movie..." He explained. "I wish that you were able to do it with me... I don't like working with anyone else... but I need to do this."

"Matt, this is crazy!" Harriet cut in. "You really want to leave?"

"Yes, I need to get away." He told them. "I need to move on and I can't do that here... there's too many memories...too many ghosts."

"What about Gracie?" She asked.

He hesitated, glancing at Danny before continuing. "Like I said the other day...I'm having her adopted."

"Matt, you can't do that! Who knows where she'd end up!"

"Actually, Danny is going to do it." He explained. "He's her Dad now... It'll be official once we get some paperwork sorted out."

"Is this true?" Harriet looked at Danny who had started to pace around, trying to get his head around everything.

"I know you'll think I'm not thinking straight..." Matt started. "But trust me, this is for the best... I'll be in my office."

"What now?" Jordan asked, looking at Danny once Matt had gone.

Danny stopped pacing and looked at her before silently starting to follow Matt.

"Danny." Harriet stopped him. "Let me."

He thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

Harriet walked up to the office, knocking on the door.

"Can I come in?" She asked. "We need to talk."

"What about?" He questioned, not looking up.

"I never planned on kissing you that day."

Matt tensed at the mention of it but didn't say anything.

"If I could go back and stop it, I would..." She told him. "But that's not going to change things..."

"Harriet, I understand you're trying to help but..."

"Stop blaming yourself for what happened to Jessica."

"Who am I meant to blame?" He asked.

"No one, it was no ones fault..." She claimed. "Its God's plan..."

"Oh screw God!" Matt cut in, raising his voice. "Don't try and make this out to be a good thing because its what God wanted!"

"I wasn't..." She stuttered but he kept talking.

"Ever since its happened, everyone has told me that she's gone to a better place... that its part of God's plan." He rambled. "But I don't care about his plans... I had plans... and they're all messed up now!"

"I know..."

"No, you don't know...Can you honestly tell me that there is somewhere else that is better then her being with Gracie and me... we were going to be a family... we were going to be happy... that's the place she should be... that's the place she wanted to be."

"Matt..."

"How is it fair that just when I think I've worked my life out something like this happenes?" He whispered. "How is it fair that Gracie has already lost her Mom and won't even remember her."

"It's not fair, Matt..." She agreed. "And it's not fair for her grow up with out her Dad either."

"It's better this way." He muttered, almost to himself.

"Why?"

"Because this way it will hurt less." He claimed. "I can't get close to her and have her taken away from me."

"How do you know she'll be taken away from you?" Harriet questioned frowning slightly.

"Because everyone I love is taken away from me."

Harriet was quiet for a moment, trying to work out the best thing to tell him.

"She's not going anywhere, Matt... She's your daughter...she belongs to you." She told him. "Don't push her away..."

He looked up at her. "I wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened...I'm not strong enough... I can't risk it."

"You are strong enough." She reached out and took his hands in hers. "And you've got so many people who love and who are still around...Do you know how crazy you're making Danny. He's so worried about you."

Matt looked down again.

"You're going through a rough time at the moment and you need to let people help you." She stated. "Maybe you should talk to someone."

"I'm not seeing a shrink!"

"Matt, you need someone to help you get over your grief and guilt for Jessica." She told him. "Please...do it for Gracie."

She sighed and stood up when she got no reply.

"Just think about it, okay?" She said. "I'll be downstairs."

Once Matt heard the door close behind him, he fell back against the couch as his emotions took over and he broke down.

An hour had past and Matt still hadn't left his office. Everyone was trying to work but Gracie kept crying and no one could concentrate.

"Danny, this is crazy!" Simon complained when she started crying again. "We can't work like this."

"I know, I'm sorry..." Danny sighed. "I'll sort something out soon."

Harriet stood up and went to walk towards Gracie when Danny grabbed her arm and stopped her. She looked at him questionable but he was looking at someone else. She followed his eyes and saw Matt coming out of his office.

No one spoke as they all watched him stop and look down at his daughter.

Matt stared at her, every time he looked at her, he got this overwhelming feeling of love... he couldn't give that away, could he? No matter how scared he was...

A smile creped across Danny's face as Matt reached down and carefully picked Grace up.

"Shh, it's okay..." Matt whispered, rocking her gently, holding her close forgetting everyone was there. "Daddy's here now."

He looked and saw everyone was watching him, smiling.

"Uh... I'll...I'll let you get on..." Matt said. "I'll take Gracie up to my office."

"Okay." Danny grinned.

"Okay." Matt nodded slightly, returning a small smile.

Matt looked at Harriet and mouthed, 'thank you' before turning and walking away.

XxXxX

Danny waited another hour before heading up to Matt's office to check on them both. He stopped in the door when he saw Matt lying across the couch, with Gracie in his arms. It was something he was beginning to think he'd never see.

Matt opened his eyes, feeling someone watching him.

"Hey."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Danny stepped into the room

"It's okay, I wasn't asleep." Matt told him, sitting up slowly, hoping not the disturb Gracie.

"You're making the right decision, you know that right?" Danny stated, sitting next to him.

"I know..." He nodded. "I'm sorry for taking so long to realise it."

"Everyone understands." Danny assured him. "So, what's going to happen now?"

"I'm not sure... I guess, I just need to take one day at a time." Matt replied.

"Well, I'll be there to help you."

"Yeah, I know that too." He smiled. "Thank you... for everything."

"It's what I'm here for..." Danny replied, smiling when he saw that Matt wasn't even looking at him, instead staring down at Grace. He just knew that everything was going to be okay now.

**The End**

**Okay, guys! Don't worry, I'm planning an Epilogue! Thanks for the reviews! Please keep them coming!! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, guys as I promised a epilogue . So please let me know what you think!! **

**Enjoy!!!**

**A Different Kind Of Love**

**16 Years Later**

Matt stood looking down at the stone grave for a moment before sitting down on the grass in front of it.

_Jessica May Thomson. _

_1981- 2007_

Yesterday was Grace's 16th birthday, which also meant that it was 16 years ago today that Jess had died.

Thinking back to the night when Danny and him were offered to run Studio 60, he would have never thought his life would have turned out like this and he'd never thought they would still be doing the show 16 years down the road.

It took Matt almost a year to start getting his life back on track after losing Jess but with the help of his friends and having Gracie in his life, he managed it. So such had happened since then. The years had gone by so fast. First Danny and Jordan decided to get married. Matt was best man...again... but he knew this would be the last time. Then 2 years after the wedding, Jordan had another baby boy called Michael Matthew Tripp.

By that time Gracie was almost 6 years old and she was starting to ask questions about her Mom. At first he shrugged, he didn't know what to tell her. He didn't know how much she'd understand and if any of it would confuse her. Luckily, he had help from Danny, Jordan and Harriet. Harriet become a big part of Gracie's life, she was always available to babysit or to play with her when the nanny was sick and Matt had to take her to the studio. Their relationship changed too. Before Matt had met Jess, even though Harriet and him had broken up, they saw each other everyday and acted like a couple who were just having a fight but afterwards when Matt was trying to sort his life out, she become his friend.

Harriet, Simon and Tom were still working on the show too, even though they had all gone out and done other projects too but none of them wanted to leave the show all together. Jeannie had left after starring in a big blockbuster but still kept in touch with them all. Both Alex and Dillon were doing well, appearing along big names in movies too.

Cal was still at the studio, as was Andy and Suzanne. Lucy had left to work as a writer on a sitcom and had slowly worked her way up to head writer. Tom and her also got married 10 years ago and had a daughter, Lily Rose but they divorced when she was 4. Whilst Darius had found his 'Danny' and the two of them were writing and producing some of the highest charting movies today.

Matt started to think back to when Gracie was 7. It was just after Jordan had given birth to a baby girl, Haylee Elizabeth. She had told him she wanted to have a baby sister and when he explained to her that she couldn't have one just yet because he wasn't married or even dating anyone, she told him that he should marry Harriet because then she could be her Mommy too. Her requests had stunned him but then it all made sense when she told him, she had heard Uncle Danny telling Aunt Jordan that Harriet and him should just get it over with and get back together.

Even though he told Grace it didn't work like that. It made him think. Harriet and him were spending a lot of time together and he had always had feelings for her but he wasn't sure how she felt.

After a few weeks of acting like a nervous teenager around Harriet, he finally asked her to go to dinner with him and she agreed. It was like it was their first date all over again.

This time there were no fights over stupid things... no breaking up every 6 months... On their one-year anniversary, Matt purposed.

Danny was best man, Jordan was maid of honor, Gracie and Lilly were bridesmaids, Haylee was flower girl, Simon and Tom were grooms men and Nicky and Michael were pageboys.

It was one of the best days of his life and Gracie was so happy about it too, since that day she started calling Harriet, Mom.

"Hey."

Matt turned and saw Gracie stood behind him. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." She sat down next to him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming here? I would have come with you."

"I thought you were busy with Nicky." He replied.

She gave him a look. "Y'know he doesn't like being called Nicky, any more...It's Nick."

Matt rolled his eyes. "I've always called him Nicky."

"I know and he hates it."

"You two are spending a lot of time together, lately..." Matt stated, looking at her curiously.

"So do you and Danny. What's your point?"

He laughed slightly. "Nothing."

"Thought so."

"But I was just wondering whether he was your..."

She groaned. "I don't really want to have this conversation with my father."

"Why not?"

"Because you go crazy just at the mention of dating.."

"I'm not that bad."

"Dad, when I was 7 you told me I needed a licence and that the guys I dated had to get a recommendation letter off Danny first."

"Hey, Danny was the one who added the letter of recommendation into it."

"Whatever."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Gracie spoke again.

"Did you really love her?" She asked, gesturing to the gravestone.

Matt looked at her before answering. "Yes, I did."

"It wasn't just a rebound relationship?"

"Why would you ask that?" He frowned.

She shrugged slightly. "I don't know, I've heard these stories about how Mom and you use to date then you met my real Mom just after you two broke up."

"I wasn't looking for anyone when I met your Mom... neither of us wanted a serious relationship." He explained. "But we started to fall in love, it surprised us both but in the short time we were together, we were very happy."

"Really?"

"Yeah and it makes it even better that you were a result of that."

"Do you blame me?"

"Blame you?"

"She died because she was giving birth to me."

"Oh no, Gracie I never blamed you." He assured her. "I blamed myself but never you."

"Why did you blame yourself?"

He sighed. "I wasn't with her when she started to go into labour... I thought I should have been...maybe I could have done something to help her but I wouldn't have been able to... no one could have done any more then they already did."

She nodded and looked down at her hands.

"What was she like?"

He smiled and put his arm around her. "Just like you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you remind me so much of her..."

"Is that a good thing?"

He kissed the top of her head. "It's a wonderful thing."

She smiled, laid her head on his shoulder. "I've thought I wish I could have met her... I'm glad you and mom got married... and I think she would too."

"Yeah."

"Just think if you wouldn't have done, there would be no Conner, Tyler or Mia..."

Matt smiled at the names, 6 months after their wedding; Harriet discovered she was pregnant with twins. For 9 months Matt acted crazy and protective, terrified the same thing would happen again but fortunately everything was fine and she gave birth to Conner James and Tyler David. Then came Mia Christine, who was now only 2 years old.

"Yeah, you're right." He smiled and kissed her temple before standing up, holding his hand down to her. "Come on, we'd better get back."

"Okay." She agreed, pulling herself up with his hand. "Oh, I need to give you this."

"What is it?" He asked, taking the paper she was holding out to him.

"Danny's letter of recommendation for Nick." She told him, smiling nervously, waiting for his reaction.

Matt looked at the paper, reading a little before looking at her.

"I don't think this is fair... Danny's his father!"

"Oh, come on..." She grabbed his arm, pulling him along as she started to walk. "We both know, you'll eventually give in..."

He sighed, in defeat and shoved the paper into his pocket. "This sucks!"

**The End**

**Please review and let me know what you think!! **


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